Sanai
A Sanskrit name meaning "praised" or "venerated".
Name Census estimates that about 4,061 living Americans carry the first name Sanai. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Sanai today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sanai births was 2008 (297 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sanai. 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.
Key insights
- • Sanai is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,401 Americans
Peak year
2008
297 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2021 SSA rank
#1,584
Tracked since 1994
Census
Sanai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,681 people with the first name Sanai, which placed it at #6,086 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
#6,086
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,681 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sanai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sanai is Black at 84.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Sanai 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 Sanai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.5% · 2,266
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 206
- Two or more races5.1% · 137
- White1.7% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Sanai
Out of the 4,101 babies given the name Sanai since 1880, 99.4% 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.
Sanai as a male name
- Ranked #13,737 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2003 (5 births)
Sanai as a female name
- Ranked #1,584 in 2024
- 133 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (297 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sanai leans strongly female. 2,631 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 50 male bearers (1.9%).
Popularity
Sanai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sanai from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,714 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sanai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sanai 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 Sanai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sanais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Sanai, while Indiana, District of Columbia, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 165 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sanai
The name Sanai has its origins in the Persian language and culture, with records of its usage dating back to the medieval period in present-day Iran. It is derived from the Persian word "sana," which means "praise" or "eulogy," suggesting that the name may have been given to individuals who were talented in poetry or praised for their achievements.
One of the earliest and most notable historical figures bearing the name Sanai was Hakim Sanai Ghaznavi, a renowned Persian poet who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries. He was renowned for his mystical poetry and is considered one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time. His masterpiece, "The Walled Garden of Truth," is a celebrated work that explores spiritual themes and the path to enlightenment.
In the 13th century, another Sanai, known as Sanai Maulavi, was a Persian poet and mystic who authored several works on Sufism and spirituality. His poems and writings were highly influential in the region during that time period.
Moving forward in history, Sanai Shushtari was a 15th-century Persian poet and calligrapher who gained recognition for his lyrical compositions and his mastery of the art of calligraphy. His works were widely appreciated and studied by scholars and poets alike.
In the 18th century, Sanai Khan was a prominent military commander and governor in the Mughal Empire, known for his valor and leadership skills. He played a significant role in the expansion and defense of the empire's territories.
Another notable figure with the name Sanai was Sanai Mitha, a 20th-century Indian Sufi mystic and poet from the state of Gujarat. He was revered for his spiritual teachings and his devotional poetry, which gained him a devoted following.
While the name Sanai has its roots in the Persian language and culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and has been embraced by various communities around the world. Its rich historical associations with poetry, spirituality, and leadership have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Sanai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sanai 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
Sanai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sanai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,061 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sanai 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 84,401 US residents.
Is Sanai a common name?
We classify Sanai as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,101 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sanai most popular?
The single biggest year for Sanai was 2008, when 297 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sanai is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sanai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,681 people with the name Sanai, or 0.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,086 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 Sanai 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 Sanai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sanai leans strongly female. 2,631 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 50 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Sanai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sanai is Black at 84.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Sanai most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sanai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.5% (2,266 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 Sanai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sanai a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Sanai 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 Sanai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sanai 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 Sanai 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 Americans are named Sanai?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.