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The first name 
Sarah

Sarah is a first name typically given to girls, but in rare cases also used as a boys name.

The name Sarah is very popular!

The first name Sarah is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #60 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Sarah, accounting for approximately 0.30 % of all newborn girls. In total, there are currently 1,036,705 people – children, adults and seniors – named Sarah living in the United States, which is approximately 0.31 % of the entire population.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Sarah

What does the name 
Sarah mean?

The first name Sarah stands for ‘the princess’ or also ‘mistress’. The name is of Hebrew origin: the Hebrew word ‘śarā’ means ‘princess’.

Sarah is a biblical matriarch... and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. Her character is that of a pious woman, renowned for her hospitality and beauty.

There are a couple of very famous Sarahs in the world

The First Singer in Space

Sarah Brightman (*1960)
Sarah Brightman is a British singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer who is known for her pioneering work in classical crossover music. With her soprano voice she performed the single 'Time to Say Goodbye,' (1996) in a duet with opera singer Andrea Bocelli. The song sold over 12 million copies worldwide and remains one of the best-selling singles of all time. In 2015, she became the first person to sing in space, performing a song on the International Space Station.

A TV Series Star

Sarah Jessica Parker (*1965)
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American actress who became widely known for her role as Carrie Bradshaw in the popular TV series 'Sex and the City' (1998 – 2004). Even at a young age she acted on Broadway and was cast in films such as 'Footlose' (1984) or 'Mars Attacks!' Today, she is among the most famous actresses of all time and has been awarded with six Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards and other prizes.

A Horror Genre Expert

Sarah Michelle Gellar (*1977)
Sarah Michelle Gellar is an American actress who became widely known for her role as Buffy in the television series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997 – 2003). In the 1990s and 2000s she starred in several horror movies 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (1997), 'Scream 2' (1997) and 'The Grudge' (2004). She also starred very successful in teen movies such as 'Cruel Intentions' (1999) or 'Scooby-Doo' (2002). She received numerous awards including Teen Choice Awards and Young Hollywood Awards and was awarded with many others.

Duchess of York

Sarah Ferguson (*1959)
Sarah, Duchess of York, born Sarah Margaret Ferguson, is also known by the nickname Fergie. She is a member of the British royal family and the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who is the younger brother of King Charles III. She is known for her charity work and her often-scrutinized personal life.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Sarah, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Sarah? Are you also called Sarah? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

In the south of Iran...

there is a village called Sarah. It is located in Hormozgan Province and has a population about 450, in 85 families.

Two incorporated communities...

in the USA bear the name Sarah: in Elliott County, Kentucky as well as in Cabell County, West Virginia.

Lake Sarah...

was named for the love interest of a pioneer settler. It is a lake in Hennepin County, Minnesota, with an area of 1,093 acres.

Sarah -
indispensable from the USA

The name Sarah seems to be an integral part of the U.S. - without Sarah, the Constitution, and basketball, the U.S. would not be the U.S. we love. This is obvious from the fact that Sarah is one of the few names that have been given in the USA in every single year since the beginning of the name statistics and thus since 1880. Of course, Sarah hasn't been equally popular in all 143 years - it was most often given as a baby name before the 2000s: In 1993 it was one of the top 10 most popular baby girl names in the entire United States, ranking #3 on the SmartGenius name statistics.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Sarah was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

In 2022, 2,780 babies were given the name Sarah

2,780 young parents chose the name Sarah for their newborn child in 2022, placing it at number 92 on the list of most popular girls names - in other words, 91 girls names were given more frequently in 2022. Particularly rare was the name in 1959 - when only 3,889 parents named their newborn child Sarah in the entire year. This puts it at position 117 in our SmartGenius first name statistics.

Sarah -
a top 10 name in New Hampshire, at home in the entire USA

Regardless of where you live in the US, chances are you know someone called Sarah. Because: There are women and girls named Sarah in every state in the USA. If this does not sound particularly spectacular to you, you should know that of the more than 50,000 different female first names that occur in the USA, just 537 are recorded in each individual state, so the name Sarah is definitely something very special. In some regions it even makes it into the top 10 of the most popular female first names, for example in New Hampshire, where Sarah ranks on place 4, making it one of the most common female first names in the entire state. The greatest chance of meeting Sarah, however, is in Alaska, where one in 73 girls and women bears this beautiful name – that is far above average – in the entire USA it is only one in 149, women and girls and in New York, where the name is least represented in relation to the population, you even have to ask an average of 180 women and girls for their name before you once get Sarah as an answer.

Sarah has 5 letters 
and begins with an S

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter S is a very popular first letter for girls' names. That’s because 9.3% of all common girls’ names in the US begin with this letter. Only the first letter A is more common for girls' names.

With five letters, the name Sarah is comparatively short. In fact, 17.0% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly five letters. Only 7% of all first names are even shorter, while 75% have more than five letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that if 9.3% of all girls' names start with an S, this initial letter occurs nearly three times as often as all other letters on average. And by the way: Of all the girls' names that start with an S, Susan is the most common.

Other names with 
S, a, r, a and h

If you take all the letters in the name Sarah – S, a, r, a and h – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Sahra or others.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Sarah

If your name is Sarah and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Sarah

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Sarah, you can simply say:

Sun

Apple

Rocket

Apple

Hat

This is how the name Sarah is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Sarah in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Sarah

Sarah

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Sarah

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Sarah is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

S
A
R
A
H

Have you ever waved the name Sarah

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

S
A
R
A
H

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Sarah sounds like this: