Saoirse

What Saoirse means

Means “freedom”

Borrowed from Irish Saoirse, from saoirse (“freedom”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Saoirse” (revision 83832441), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Saoirse?

US: Rising: up from #1448 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #549 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2020, when 373 girls got the name (#732 that year). First in the US records in 1993.

How common

• About 1 in 7,240 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,483 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 778 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MA (0.54 per 1,000 girls), OR (0.54 per 1,000 girls), UT (0.35 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Saoirse is #1085 in the US and #402 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Saoirse were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Saoirse

Girls

• Rowan#249“little red one”^*
• Kenna#759“descendant of Cionaodh”^*
• Teagan#340Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1979, with 6 babies
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Alayna#332Editor’s note Down from #223 in 2015 to #332 in 2025 in the US
• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*

For a brother

• Kieran#389Editor’s note Up from #512 in 2015 to #389 in 2025 in the US
• Liam#1Form of William, meaning “will + helmet”^*
• Kian#400Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #400 in 2025 in the US
• Declan#139Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #139 vs #372 in 2025
• Ronan#247Irish, meaning “little seal”^*
• Finn#206“the Sami”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Saoirse’s. Rank is US 2025.