Sabastian
Of Portuguese origin, meaning "one from Sebastia".
Name Census estimates that about 3,570 living Americans carry the first name Sabastian. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sabastian today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sabastian births was 2001 (205 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sabastian. 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 Sabastian with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.6K
~ 1 in 96,010 Americans
Peak year
2001
205 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,756
Tracked since 1917
Census
Sabastian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,964 people with the first name Sabastian, which placed it at #4,629 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
#4,629
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,964 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
50.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sabastian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sabastian is Hispanic at 50.6%. The next largest groups are White (35.1%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Sabastian 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 Sabastian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino50.6% · 2,006
- White35.1% · 1,393
- Black or African American6.6% · 263
- Two or more races5.1% · 202
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 45
Popularity
Sabastian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sabastian from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,552 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sabastian 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 Sabastian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sabastians live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Sabastian, while Minnesota, Massachusetts, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sabastian
The name Sabastian has its origins in the ancient Greek name Sebastianos, which was derived from the Greek word "sebastos," meaning "venerable" or "revered." The name gained popularity during the Roman era, particularly after the Roman emperor Augustus was given the title "Augustus," which also stems from "sebastos."
The earliest recorded use of the name Sabastian can be traced back to the 3rd century AD, when a Christian martyr named Sebastianus was venerated for his steadfast faith and courage in the face of persecution. According to legend, Sebastianus was a Roman soldier who secretly converted to Christianity and was eventually executed for his beliefs during the reign of Emperor Diocletian.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Sabastian was widely used across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Christian traditions. One notable figure was Saint Sebastian, a 3rd-century Christian martyr who is often depicted in art and literature as a handsome young man pierced by arrows.
In the 16th century, the name Sabastian gained further prominence with the birth of Sebastian I, King of Portugal from 1557 to 1578. His reign was marked by significant naval exploration and the expansion of Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia.
Another famous figure was Sebastian Munster, a German Renaissance scholar and cartographer born in 1488. He is best known for his contributions to the study of geography and for publishing one of the earliest modern world maps, the "Cosmographia Universalis," in 1544.
During the Baroque period, the name Sabastian was associated with several notable composers and musicians. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), one of the most influential composers of the Baroque era, is perhaps the most famous bearer of the name. His compositions, including the Brandenburg Concertos and the Well-Tempered Clavier, are considered masterpieces of Western classical music.
Another notable figure was Sebastian Brant (1457-1521), a German humanist and satirist known for his influential work "Das Narrenschiff" (The Ship of Fools), a biting satire on the follies and vices of society at the time.
People
Sabastian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sabastian as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sabastian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sabastian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,570 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sabastian 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 96,010 US residents.
Is Sabastian a common name?
We classify Sabastian as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,635 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sabastian most popular?
The single biggest year for Sabastian was 2001, when 205 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sabastian is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sabastian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,964 people with the name Sabastian, or 1.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,629 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 Sabastian 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 Sabastian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sabastian appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,964 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Sabastian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sabastian is Hispanic at 50.6%. The next largest groups are White (35.1%) and Black (6.6%). 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 Sabastian most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sabastian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.6% (2,006 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 Sabastian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sabastian a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sabastian in the SSA data are male. 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 Sabastian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sabastian 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 Sabastian 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 many people have the name Sabastian?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.