Sativa
A feminine name derived from the cannabis plant strain.
Name Census estimates that about 681 living Americans carry the first name Sativa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sativa today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sativa births was 2002 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sativa. 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.
People living today
681
~ 1 in 503,310 Americans
Peak year
2002
41 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,319
Tracked since 1970
Census
Sativa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 515 people with the first name Sativa, which placed it at #20,162 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
#20,162
National first-name rank
People counted
515
515 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sativa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sativa is White at 48.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.5%) and Black (12.2%). 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 Sativa 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 Sativa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.7% · 251
- Hispanic or Latino22.5% · 116
- Black or African American12.2% · 63
- Two or more races9.5% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.8% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 6
Popularity
Sativa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sativa from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 227 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sativa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sativa 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 Sativa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sativas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Colorado, Washington recorded the most babies named Sativa, while Washington, Colorado, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sativa
The name Sativa originates from the Latin word 'sativa', which means 'cultivated' or 'sown'. This term was used to refer to plants that were grown intentionally by humans, as opposed to those that grew naturally in the wild. The name is believed to have entered the English language during the 16th century, coinciding with the Age of Exploration and the expansion of botanical knowledge.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sativa can be traced back to the 17th century, when it was given to a character in the play "The Emperor of the Moon" by English playwright John Dryden. This play, written in 1667, satirized the scientific discoveries and intellectual debates of the time, and the character's name may have been a playful reference to the botanical nomenclature that was gaining prominence.
One of the most notable historical figures named Sativa was Sativa Alderson (1868-1957), an American suffragist and activist for women's rights. She was a prominent member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and played a crucial role in the fight for women's right to vote in the United States.
Another significant individual with the name Sativa was Sativa Venegas (1897-1979), a Mexican artist renowned for her vibrant and expressive paintings. Her works often depicted scenes of everyday life in Mexico and celebrated the rich cultural traditions of her homeland.
In the field of literature, Sativa Ramos (1922-2002) was a celebrated Peruvian poet whose works explored themes of identity, nature, and the human experience. Her poetry collections, such as "Canto a la Vida" (Song to Life), gained international recognition and critical acclaim.
Sativa Kincaid (1945-2017) was an American environmentalist and advocate for sustainable living. She founded several organizations dedicated to promoting eco-friendly practices and raising awareness about environmental issues, leaving a lasting impact on the green movement.
Sativa Meier (1962-present) is a German-born architect known for her innovative and sustainable designs. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards and has been featured in prestigious publications, showcasing her dedication to creating environmentally conscious and aesthetically striking buildings.
People
Sativa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sativa 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
Sativa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sativa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 681 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sativa 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 503,310 US residents.
Is Sativa a common name?
We classify Sativa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 700 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sativa most popular?
The single biggest year for Sativa was 2002, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sativa is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sativa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 515 people with the name Sativa, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,162 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 Sativa 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 Sativa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sativa leans strongly female. 505 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 17 male bearers (3.3%). 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 Sativa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sativa is White at 48.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.5%) and Black (12.2%). 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 Sativa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sativa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.7% (251 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 Sativa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sativa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sativa 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 Sativa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sativa 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 Sativa 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 common is the name Sativa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.