ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1880 First Year 2026 Last Year 1981 Peak Year #26 Peak Rank 438K Total Count 147 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Sara What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Sarah is a common feminine given name of Hebrew origin. It derives its popularity from the biblical matriarch Sarah, the wife of Abraham and a major figure in the Abrahamic religions. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) ### Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name) * Hebrew * Greek * Spanish * Italian * Portuguese * French * Catalan * Galician * Romanian * German * Dutch * Swedish * Norwegian * Danish * Icelandic * Finnish * Slovene * Croatian * Serbian * Bosnian * Albanian * Macedonian * Polish * English * Arabic * Persian * Amharic * Tigrinya * Biblical Hebrew * Biblical Latin * Hungarian * Czech * Slovak * Latvian [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Sara](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Sarah_Bernhardt%2C_par_Nadar%2C_1864%2C_sepia.jpg/330px-Sarah_Bernhardt%2C_par_Nadar%2C_1864%2C_sepia.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=api&utm_content=thumbnail)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) 📖 ## The Story of Sara The earliest SSA record of Sara as a baby girl name dates back to 1880, when 165 babies received it. 1981 was its biggest year on record, with 11,358 newborns named Sara — #26 in the national rankings. About 24% of every Sara on record arrived during the 1980s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Sara ranks #191 for baby girls with 1,633 births, holding steady (-4%). All told, over 438K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1880s to the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🔗 ## Variants & Related Forms of Sara Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Sara. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * Saar * [Saara](/saara) * [Sadie](/sadie) * [Sal](/sal) * [Sallie](/sallie) * [Sally](/sally) * [Sarah](/sarah) * [Sarina](/sarina) * [Sarit](/sarit) * [Sarita](/sarita) * Sassa * [Sera](/sera) ⭐ ## Notable people named Sara A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia. * ●Sarah, Crown Princess of Brunei * ●Sarah Abo , Australian television presenter, journalist and reporter * ●Sarah Adegoke (born 1997), Nigerian tennis player * ●Sarah Alexander (born 1971), English actress * ●Sarah A. Anderson (1901–1992), American politician * ●Sarah Armstrong-Smith , British Chief information security officer * ●Sarah Aroeste (born 1976), Sephardic Jewish musician * ●Sarah Ashton-Cirillo (born 1977), American journalist and activist Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah%5F%28given%5Fname%29) 🎶 ## Names that sound like Sara Phonetically similar names — useful when Sara is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Sarah](/sarah) * [Cera](/cera) * [Serra](/serra) * [Saira](/saira) * [Cerra](/cerra) * [Sera](/sera) * [Cierra](/cierra) * [Ciera](/ciera) * [Syrah](/syrah) * [Sirrah](/sirrah) * [Ceara](/ceara) * [Sira](/sira) Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Sara What does the name Sara mean? Sarah is a common feminine given name of Hebrew origin. It derives its popularity from the biblical matriarch Sarah, the wife of Abraham and a major figure in the Abrahamic religions. What is the origin of the name Sara? Sara has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: Hebrew, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Catalan, Galician, Romanian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Macedonian, Polish, English, Arabic, Persian, Amharic, Tigrinya, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Latin, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Latvian. How popular is Sara in 2026? In 2026, Sara ranks #191 among girls' names in the U.S., with 1,633 babies given the name that year. When was Sara most popular? Sara reached its peak popularity in 1981, ranking #26 that year with 11,358 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Sara most popular? Sara has historically been most popular in Iowa, Vermont, Minnesota. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Sara. Is Sara a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Sara is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Sara? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Sara include Julia, Edith, Alexandra. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. What are nicknames or variants of Sara? Common variants and related forms of Sara include Saar, Saara, Sadie, Sal, Sallie, Sally. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms. ## Similar Names [👧JuliaPeak #26](/julia)[👧EdithPeak #26](/edith)[👧AlexandraPeak #26](/alexandra)[👧KayleePeak #26](/kaylee)[👧LaineyPeak #26](/lainey)[👧HattiePeak #27](/hattie)[👧MattiePeak #25](/mattie)[👧KatherinePeak #25](/katherine) ## About the name Sara Sara is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 438K births in the dataset. Sara's peak popularity came in 1981 when it ranked #26\. Use the chart and map above to compare Sara's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1981 → ](/year/1981) * [ Names of the 1980s → ](/decade/1980s) * [ Names starting with "S" → ](/letter/s) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.