2000
#3,194
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,285
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.81
Uncommon Last name
Sager
An occupational surname referring to a sawyer or woodcutter.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 11,096 Americans carry the last name Sager. That puts it at #3,593 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.24 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 30,890 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sager surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Sager with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
11K
1 in 30,890
Census rank
#3,593
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.7K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,676 bearers of the surname Sager in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.24 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3593rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sager, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sager
The surname Sager is of German origin, derived from the Old German word "sager," meaning a person who tells stories or speaks eloquently. It first emerged in the late Middle Ages, around the 14th century, in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Sager can be found in the Würzburg Codex, a medieval manuscript dating back to 1368, where a certain Hans Sager is mentioned as a scribe and storyteller in the court of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.
In the 15th century, the name Sager appears in various town records and tax rolls across southern Germany, suggesting that the name had spread and become more common among the general population.
One notable bearer of the name was Johann Sager (1495-1564), a Lutheran theologian and reformer from Nuremberg, who played a significant role in the Reformation movement in the Holy Roman Empire.
Another historical figure with the surname Sager was Katharina Sager (1535-1594), a German midwife and author from Augsburg, who wrote one of the earliest known treatises on midwifery and childbirth in the German language.
In the 17th century, the name Sager appears in several records from the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany, where it may have originated from the town of Sagerbach or Sägermühle.
One of the earliest recorded immigrants to North America with the surname Sager was Hans Sager, who arrived in Pennsylvania from the Palatinate region in 1738 and settled in the German immigrant community of Germantown.
Another prominent bearer of the name was the Swiss-born writer and philosopher Johann Jakob Sager (1705-1776), who was a leading figure in the German Enlightenment and a proponent of religious tolerance and freedom of thought.
In the 19th century, the surname Sager was borne by several notable individuals, including the American explorer and frontiersman John Sager (1804-1883), who led wagon trains along the Oregon Trail, and the German-American educator and author Carl Sager (1835-1898), who founded the Milwaukee Normal School and was a pioneer in teacher education.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sager
Among Census respondents with the surname Sager, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Sager bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Sager surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 8,749
- Two or more races3.2% · 313
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 275
- Black or African American1.8% · 170
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 135
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 34
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sager
Sager appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#3,390
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,541
+256 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 3.57
Rank movement Down 196 places
2020
#3,593
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,676
-865 bearers (-8.2%)
Per 100,000 3.24
Rank movement Down 203 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,194 | 10,285 | 3.81 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,390 | 10,541 | 3.57 | +256 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 196 places |
| 2020 | #3,593 | 9,676 | 3.24 | -865 bearers (-8.2%) | Down 203 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Sager surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #3,390 | #3,593 | -6.0% |
| Count | 10,541 | 9,676 | -8.2% |
| Per 100K | 3.57 | 3.24 | -9.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sager bearers went from 10,541 to 9,676 (-8.2% change). The surname moved down 203 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,390 to #3,593.
FAQ
Sager surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sager?
Name Census estimates that about 11,096 living Americans carry the surname Sager. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 30,890 residents.
How common is Sager?
Sager ranks #3,593 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.24 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,676 people with the surname Sager. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (11,096), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.24 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.24 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Sager.
Has Sager become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sager went from 10,541 recorded bearers to 9,676. That is a decrease of 865 (-8.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,390 to #3,593.
What does the Census say about the background of Sager?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sager, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Sager in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (8,749 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sager appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (2.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Sager (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Sager mean?
An occupational surname referring to a sawyer or woodcutter. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Sager (3.24 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Sager?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.