US rank #187 Girls' name Peak 1981 434,598 births

Sara — #187 US girls' name

434,598 babies named Sara in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1981. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s21271890s31191900s42101910s154091920s211011930s182611940s202751950s204911960s230451970s569601980s1046811990s721702000s440502010s207232020s7976
#187
of 17,661 girls in use

More common than 99% of names given to girls today.

1980s
Peak decade

24% of everyone ever named Sara was born in this single decade.

1981
Single peak year

11,358 babies were named Sara in 1981 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Sara

The Social Security Administration has registered 434,598 babies named Sara between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Sara currently holds the #187 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1981, when 11,358 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Sara performed strongest in the 1980s, accumulating 104,681 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Sara shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 39,376 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by New York and Texas. In total, SSA state-level files list Sara in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Sara in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 434,598 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Sara at a glance

Top 1,000 girls' name

Total births

434,598

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

1981

11,358 births that year

Strongest decade: 1980s

Current rank

#187

Among girls

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Sara popularity over time — girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880

Top 1,000 girls' name
Peak year (1981)
11,358
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-5,00005,00010,00015,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 165

Sara popularity over time — boys

1,248 total births recorded since 1908 (Sara as boys' name)

Unisex variant — 1,248 births
0102030405060 202420011990197919681950193719261908 5

Sara by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1980s
Peak decade
1980s
104,681 births that decade — 24% of Sara's all-time total
1880s21271890s31191900s42101910s154091920s211011930s182611940s202751950s204911960s230451970s569601980s1046811990s721702000s440502010s207232020s7976

Sara by state

Where Sara concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Sara
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
39,376 9.1%
#2 New York
29,821 6.9%
#3 Texas
27,648 6.4%
#4 Pennsylvania
25,420 5.8%
#5 Ohio
19,844 4.6%
#6 Illinois
18,699 4.3%
#7 Georgia
16,967 3.9%
#8 Michigan
16,387 3.8%
California share of Sara's total US births 9.1%
Even split

39,376 of 434,598 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Sara appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Sara?
434,598 babies have been named Sara since 1880. It currently ranks #187 among girls. The peak year was 1981 with 11,358 births.
When was Sara most popular?
Sara was most popular in the 1980s decade with 104,681 total births. The single peak year was 1981.
Where is Sara most popular?
The top states for the name Sara are California (39,376 births), New York (29,821 births), Texas (27,648 births).
How long has the name Sara been used?
Sara has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Sara?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Sarah, Sarai, Sarina, Sariah, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Keep exploring Sara

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Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.