Sahara
Large desert in northern Africa, also symbolizing vastness and solitude.
Name Census estimates that about 4,552 living Americans carry the first name Sahara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sahara today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sahara births was 2006 (248 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sahara. 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 Sahara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.6K
~ 1 in 75,298 Americans
Peak year
2006
248 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2003 SSA rank
#1,640
Tracked since 1964
Census
Sahara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,133 people with the first name Sahara, which placed it at #4,487 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
#4,487
National first-name rank
People counted
4.1K
4,133 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
29.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sahara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sahara is Hispanic at 29.4%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and White (26.5%). 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 Sahara 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 Sahara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino29.4% · 1,214
- Black or African American28.5% · 1,176
- White26.5% · 1,095
- Two or more races8.2% · 340
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 276
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 32
Gender
Gender distribution for Sahara
Out of the 4,634 babies given the name Sahara 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.
Sahara as a male name
- Ranked #12,414 in 2003
- 5 male births in 2003
- Peak: 2003 (5 births)
Sahara as a female name
- Ranked #1,640 in 2024
- 126 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (248 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sahara leans strongly female. 4,087 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 46 male bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Sahara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sahara from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,550 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sahara remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sahara 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 Sahara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saharas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sahara, while Utah, Kansas, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 91 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sahara
The name Sahara has its roots in the Arabic language and is derived from the Arabic word "sahra," which means "desert." The name is closely associated with the Sahara Desert, one of the largest and most famous deserts in the world, spanning across several countries in North Africa.
The Sahara Desert has played a significant role in the history and culture of the region, and the name Sahara reflects this connection. It has been used as a given name for both males and females, although it is more commonly used for females in recent times.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sahara can be found in ancient Arabic literature, where it was used as a descriptive term to refer to the desert. However, its use as a personal name is believed to have emerged later, possibly during the medieval period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Sahara. One of the earliest recorded examples is Sahara al-Qurashi (born c. 620 CE), a female companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and one of the first converts to Islam.
Another prominent figure with the name Sahara was Sahara bint Ahmed al-Baghdadi (1186-1252 CE), an influential Arabic poet and writer from Baghdad. She is known for her contributions to the field of literature and her work in preserving Arabic culture and language.
In more recent times, Sahara Khatun (1819-1879) was a notable figure in the history of the Indian subcontinent. She was a courtesan and poet in the court of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh (Oudh).
Sahara Jasmin (born 1988) is a contemporary French singer and songwriter of Algerian descent. She rose to fame after participating in the French reality television show "Nouvelle Star" in 2010.
Sahara Davenport (1984-2012) was an American drag performer and reality television personality. She gained recognition for her participation in the second season of the reality competition series "RuPaul's Drag Race."
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Sahara. The name's association with the desert and its cultural significance in the Arab world have contributed to its enduring use and popularity across various regions and cultures.
People
Sahara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sahara 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
Sahara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sahara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,552 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sahara 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 75,298 US residents.
Is Sahara a common name?
We classify Sahara as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,634 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sahara most popular?
The single biggest year for Sahara was 2006, when 248 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sahara is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sahara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,133 people with the name Sahara, or 1.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,487 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 Sahara 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 Sahara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sahara leans strongly female. 4,087 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 46 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Sahara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sahara is Hispanic at 29.4%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and White (26.5%). 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 Sahara most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sahara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 29.4% (1,214 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 Sahara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sahara a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Sahara 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 Sahara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sahara 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 Sahara 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 Sahara as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.