Sahar
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "dawn" or "early morning".
Name Census estimates that about 2,370 living Americans carry the first name Sahar. It is a predominantly female name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Sahar today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sahar births was 1996 (83 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sahar. 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 Sahar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,622 Americans
Peak year
1996
83 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,363
Tracked since 1971
Census
Sahar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,434 people with the first name Sahar, which placed it at #3,725 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
#3,725
National first-name rank
People counted
5.4K
5,434 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sahar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sahar is White at 62.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (21.5%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). 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 Sahar 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 Sahar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.1% · 3,373
- Asian and Pacific Islander21.5% · 1,171
- Two or more races8.4% · 459
- Black or African American5.7% · 308
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 116
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Sahar
Sahar leans heavily female at 98.8% of total registrations, but 29 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sahar as a male name
- Ranked #12,047 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (6 births)
Sahar as a female name
- Ranked #3,363 in 2024
- 47 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (83 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sahar leans strongly female. 5,294 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 137 male bearers (2.5%).
Popularity
Sahar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sahar 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 632 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Sahar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sahar 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 Sahar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sahars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sahar, while Maryland, New Jersey, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 111 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sahar
The name Sahar has its origins rooted in Arabic and Persian cultures, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Arabic word "sahara," which means "dawn" or "early morning." This name is associated with the beauty and freshness of the morning, symbolizing new beginnings and hope.
In Persian literature and poetry, the name Sahar is often used as a metaphor for the first rays of sunlight that break through the darkness, signifying the end of night and the start of a new day. It is a name that carries a sense of radiance and brightness, reflecting the warmth and beauty of the rising sun.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Sahar can be found in the works of the renowned Persian poet, Rumi, who lived in the 13th century. Rumi's poetry frequently used the name Sahar as a symbolic representation of divine love and spiritual enlightenment.
Throughout history, there have been notable individuals who bore the name Sahar. One of the most famous was Sahar Khalid, an influential Arab feminist and activist from Palestine, who lived from 1941 to 1999. She was a prominent figure in the women's rights movement and played a crucial role in advocating for gender equality and social justice in the Middle East.
Another notable figure was Sahar Mustaffa, an Egyptian actress and singer, born in 1938. She was renowned for her captivating performances and her contributions to the Egyptian film industry during the 1960s and 1970s.
In the realm of literature, Sahar Delijani is a contemporary Iranian author and academic. Born in 1983, she is best known for her critically acclaimed novel "Children of the Jacaranda Tree," which explores the complexities of life in post-revolutionary Iran.
Sahar Khalifeh, a Palestinian novelist and playwright, born in 1941, is another influential figure who carried this name. Her works often addressed issues of gender, identity, and the struggles of Palestinian women, earning her widespread recognition and respect in the literary world.
Lastly, Sahar Aman was a prominent Afghan journalist and women's rights activist, born in 1981. Tragically, she was assassinated in 2012 for her outspoken advocacy for women's rights and freedom of expression in Afghanistan, becoming a symbol of courage and resilience in the face of oppression.
People
Sahar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sahar 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
Sahar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sahar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,370 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sahar 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 144,622 US residents.
Is Sahar a common name?
We classify Sahar as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,439 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sahar most popular?
The single biggest year for Sahar was 1996, when 83 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sahar is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sahar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,434 people with the name Sahar, or 1.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,725 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 Sahar 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 Sahar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sahar leans strongly female. 5,294 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 137 male bearers (2.5%). 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 Sahar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sahar is White at 62.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (21.5%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). 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 Sahar most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sahar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.1% (3,373 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 Sahar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sahar a female name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Sahar 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 Sahar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sahar 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 Sahar 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 are named Sahar?
Find out how many people have the name Sahar on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.