Cierra
A feminine name derived from Sierra, meaning "mountain range".
Name Census estimates that about 26,813 living Americans carry the first name Cierra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cierra today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cierra births was 1998 (1,687 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cierra. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Cierra with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Compared to the 1990s, recent registration numbers for Cierra have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
27K
~ 1 in 12,783 Americans
Peak year
1998
1,687 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2004 SSA rank
#2,886
Tracked since 1978
Census
Cierra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 22,466 people with the first name Cierra, which placed it at #1,494 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,494
National first-name rank
People counted
22K
22,466 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cierra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cierra is White at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.7%) and Hispanic (9.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cierra described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cierra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.7% · 10,045
- Black or African American35.7% · 8,013
- Hispanic or Latino9.9% · 2,214
- Two or more races7.9% · 1,782
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 244
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 168
Gender
Gender distribution for Cierra
Out of the 27,596 babies given the name Cierra since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Cierra as a male name
- Ranked #9,114 in 2004
- 7 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1989 (9 births)
Cierra as a female name
- Ranked #2,886 in 2024
- 57 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (1,687 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cierra appears almost entirely female. Of the 22,464 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Cierra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cierra from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 14,064 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cierra by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cierra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cierras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Cierra, while Wyoming, South Dakota, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 540 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cierra
The given name Cierra is of Spanish origin, originating from the word "sierra" meaning "mountain range" or "saw." The name likely emerged in Spain during the medieval period, possibly as a reference to the Sierra Nevada mountain range or as a surname denoting someone who lived near a mountain range or worked with saws.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Cierra appeared in various medieval Spanish documents and records, often as a surname. The earliest known individual with the given name Cierra was Cierra de Mendoza, a Spanish noblewoman born around 1425 in Seville, Spain. She was a member of the influential Mendoza family and played a role in the court of King Juan II of Castile.
Another notable historical figure with the name Cierra was Cierra de Aragon, a Spanish painter and illustrator who lived from 1512 to 1584. She was known for her religious paintings and illustrations in illuminated manuscripts commissioned by the Catholic Church and Spanish nobility.
In the 17th century, Cierra Velázquez (1599-1660) was a Spanish poet and writer who gained recognition for her lyrical poetry and literary works during the Spanish Golden Age. Her poetry often reflected themes of love, nature, and spirituality.
Moving to the 19th century, Cierra García de Paredes (1835-1904) was a Spanish feminist and activist who campaigned for women's rights and education. She founded several schools for girls and advocated for equal opportunities for women in education and employment.
Another prominent figure with the name Cierra was Cierra Picasso (1884-1973), the sister of the famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. While not an artist herself, she played a crucial role in preserving and promoting her brother's legacy and served as a model for some of his paintings.
While the name Cierra has Spanish roots, it has gained popularity in other cultures and languages over time, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its historical origins can be traced back to the Spanish language and culture, where it emerged as a name with connections to mountains, nature, and artistic expression.
People
Cierra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cierra as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cierra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cierra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,813 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cierra going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 12,783 US residents.
Is Cierra a common name?
We classify Cierra as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27,596 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cierra most popular?
The single biggest year for Cierra was 1998, when 1,687 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cierra is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cierra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 22,466 people with the name Cierra, or 7.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,494 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cierra in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cierra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cierra appears almost entirely female. Of the 22,464 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cierra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cierra is White at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.7%) and Hispanic (9.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cierra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cierra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.7% (10,045 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cierra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cierra a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Cierra in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cierra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cierra in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cierra can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Cierra?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.