Sarah

What Sarah means

Means “masters, princes”

From Biblical Hebrew שָׂרָה (śārâ, “lady, princess”), from the Biblical figure originally named Sarai (שָׂרָי (śārāy, literally “masters, princes”)).

Source: Wiktionary, “Sarah” (revision 93673625), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Sarah?

US: Falling: down from #57 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #96 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1981, when 28,175 girls got the name (#4 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 593 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 683 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 617 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 WY (6.17 per 1,000 girls), VT (6.16 per 1,000 girls), NY (4.98 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Sarah is #90 in the US and #131 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 Sarah were girls.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Zara1,432 US · 625 E&W
• Sara1,568 US · 427 E&W
• Sarai733 US · 20 E&W
• Zarah151 US · 42 E&W
• Sora99 US · 6 E&W
• Saira79 US · 20 E&W
• Zorah46 US · 4 E&W
• Xara40 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Sara
• Zara
• Zarah

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

Nicknames

• Sadie

Listed on Wiktionary under “nicknames”.

If you like Sarah

Girls

• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…^*
• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Rebekah#884“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025

For a brother

• Joseph#29“(God) shall add”^*
• Matthew#32“gift of the Lord”^*
• John#23possibly “God is gracious”^*
• Joe#991Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1936, with 8,023 babies; 230 in 2025
• Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”^*
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Sarah’s. Rank is US 2025.