Sarita
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "River".
Name Census estimates that about 4,145 living Americans carry the first name Sarita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sarita today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sarita births was 1965 (166 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sarita. 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 Sarita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 82,691 Americans
Peak year
1965
166 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,566
Tracked since 1910
Census
Sarita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,452 people with the first name Sarita, which placed it at #3,305 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
#3,305
National first-name rank
People counted
6.5K
6,452 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
31.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sarita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sarita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 31.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.0%) and Black (20.1%). 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 Sarita 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 Sarita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander31.9% · 2,057
- Hispanic or Latino27.0% · 1,740
- Black or African American20.1% · 1,296
- White16.5% · 1,064
- Two or more races3.8% · 246
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 49
Popularity
Sarita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sarita from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,019 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sarita 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 Sarita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saritas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Sarita, while Maryland, Kentucky, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 101 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sarita
The name Sarita finds its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India. It is a feminine name derived from the Sanskrit word "sarit," which means "river" or "stream." The name is believed to have gained popularity in the Indian subcontinent as early as the 5th century BCE.
Sarita is often associated with Hindu mythology and religious texts. In the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, there is a reference to a river goddess named Sarita. This river goddess is revered for her purifying and life-giving properties, much like the sacred rivers of India.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sarita can be found in the works of the Sanskrit scholar and poet, Kalidasa, who lived in the 4th-5th century CE. In his celebrated work, Meghaduta, Kalidasa mentions a character named Sarita, who is described as a beautiful and graceful woman.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Sarita. One such woman was Sarita Devi (1904-1989), an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. She was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and worked tirelessly for the empowerment of women and the abolition of social evils like child marriage.
Another prominent figure with the name Sarita was Sarita Vihar (1923-2013), an Indian poet and writer who wrote extensively in the Hindi language. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. She was honored with several prestigious literary awards, including the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.
In the field of classical Indian dance, Sarita Ravi (1919-2003) was a renowned exponent of Bharatanatyam, a major form of Indian classical dance. She was instrumental in popularizing and preserving this ancient dance form and received numerous awards for her contributions, including the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
Sarita Joshi (born 1944) is an acclaimed Indian actress who has made significant contributions to Hindi theatre, television, and cinema. She is best known for her portrayal of strong, multidimensional female characters and has won several awards for her performances, including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Sarita Srivastava (born 1956) is an Indian social activist and environmentalist who has dedicated her life to the conservation of the Ganga River and its ecosystems. She founded the organization "Ganga Bachao Andolan" (Save Ganga Movement) and has been at the forefront of efforts to protect the sacred river from pollution and environmental degradation.
People
Sarita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sarita 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
Sarita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sarita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sarita 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 82,691 US residents.
Is Sarita a common name?
We classify Sarita as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,027 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sarita most popular?
The single biggest year for Sarita was 1965, when 166 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sarita is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sarita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,452 people with the name Sarita, or 2.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,305 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 Sarita 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 Sarita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sarita appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,452 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 Sarita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sarita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 31.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.0%) and Black (20.1%). 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 Sarita most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sarita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.9% (2,057 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 Sarita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sarita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sarita 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 Sarita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sarita 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 Sarita 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 Sarita?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.