Sarah
- Pronunciation
- [Sa-rah]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Princess
- Origin
- Hebrew
About the Name Sarah
Sarah descends from the Hebrew Sarah, meaning "princess" or "lady" (more literally, "noblewoman" or "woman of high rank"). The biblical Sarah is the wife of the patriarch Abraham and mother of Isaac — one of the four matriarchs of Israel and one of the most consequential women of the Hebrew Bible. Her name was originally Sarai ("my princess" or "contentious") before being changed by God to Sarah at the time of the covenant promising her a son in old age (Genesis 17:15).
Sarah has been continuously used in Jewish tradition for over three thousand years and across nearly every Christian-influenced naming tradition for over a millennium. Notable bearers include Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923), the French theatrical legend who is sometimes called the most famous actress in the history of the world; Sarah Vaughan (1924–1990), American jazz singer; Sarah Palin (American politician, 2008 vice-presidential candidate); contemporary actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Sarah Silverman.
Sarah held the US top-10 girls' rank from 1973 through 2002 — three decades of top-tier American popularity. The name has receded slightly since 2010 but remains in steady use. The appeal is its dignified biblical classicism combined with two soft syllables that work across formal and casual registers. Common nicknames span a wide range: Sara (alternate spelling, also used as a nickname), Sadie (now a top-75 standalone name), Sally (vintage), Sai, and the rare Zara (a related but distinct name). International forms include Sara (Spanish/Italian/Greek/Scandinavian), Sarai (the original Hebrew, sometimes used independently), and Sarra (Russian).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Sarah
US Popularity History (1880–2025)
Annual US births named Sarah by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1982 with 28,488 girls named Sarah (girl rank #4 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #90 for girls (2,710 US births). That's 86 places below its 1982 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Sarah Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Sarah the strongest states are New York, New Jersey, Florida.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | #18 | 3,905 |
| 2 | New Jersey | #25 | 1,670 |
| 3 | Florida | #52 | 2,294 |
| 4 | Alabama | #70 | 541 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | #71 | 1,216 |
| 6 | Georgia | #73 | 1,052 |
| 7 | Maryland | #74 | 571 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | #74 | 672 |
| 9 | Virginia | #80 | 827 |
| 10 | Texas | #81 | 3,037 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska | #246 | 83 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | #217 | 238 |
| 3 | South Dakota | #210 | 32 |
| 4 | West Virginia | #205 | 81 |
| 5 | Minnesota | #196 | 288 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | #190 | 207 |
| 7 | Maine | #182 | 43 |
| 8 | Idaho | #180 | 118 |
| 9 | Nevada | #179 | 163 |
| 10 | North Dakota | #176 | 42 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Sarah in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sadie | Princess | Female | Hebrew |
| Sal | Savior. Diminutive Of Salvador. | Male | Spanish |
| Sallie | Princess | Female | Hebrew |
| Sally | Princess | Female | Hebrew |
| Sara | From Sarah In The Bible (Princess) | Female | Arabic |
| Sarina | Variant Of Sara And Serene. Serene. Calm. | Female | English |
| Sorcha | Intelligent | Female | Irish |
| Zahra | Swahili And Muslim Name Meaning "Flower." | Female | African |
| Zara | Princess | Female | Arabic |
Famous People Named Sarah
4 notable figures from history and culture who share the name Sarah.
- Sarah Bernhardt was one of the most excellent actors of the 19th century France.
- Sarah Brightman — Opera Singer (1960)
- Sarah Jane Brown is a businesswoman, philanthropist, author and the wife of former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
- Sarah McLachlan — Pop Singer (1968)
Looking for names like Sarah?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Sarah to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Sarah against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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