Saya
A feminine Japanese name meaning "that over there", often translated as "I".
Name Census estimates that about 1,233 living Americans carry the first name Saya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saya today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saya births was 2010 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saya. 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 Saya with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Saya 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 277,984 Americans
Peak year
2010
98 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,364
Tracked since 1990
Census
Saya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,235 people with the first name Saya, which placed it at #10,676 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
#10,676
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,235 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
29.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 29.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (22.9%) and White (22.5%). 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 Saya 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 Saya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander29.2% · 361
- Two or more races22.9% · 283
- White22.5% · 278
- Hispanic or Latino18.5% · 229
- Black or African American6.0% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 10
Popularity
Saya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 672 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saya 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 Saya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Saya, while Colorado, Ohio, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Saya
The name Saya is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that was widely used in the Indian subcontinent. Saya is derived from the Sanskrit word "sāya," which means "evening" or "night." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have been given to children born in the evening hours.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Saya can be found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a minor character. However, the exact time period in which this text was composed is uncertain, with estimates ranging from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE.
Throughout history, the name Saya has been used across various cultures and regions, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. In the 12th century, there was a renowned Indian philosopher named Saya Narayana, who made significant contributions to the field of Vedanta, a branch of Hindu philosophy.
Moving further along the timeline, in the 16th century, there was a notable figure named Saya U Kaung, who was a prominent Buddhist monk and scholar in Burma (now Myanmar). He played a crucial role in preserving and propagating Buddhist teachings during his time.
In more recent history, Saya Viengkham, born in 1958, is a prominent Lao politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of Laos. She has been actively involved in the political landscape of her country and has held several influential positions within the government.
Another notable individual with the name Saya is Saya Zamanhuri, an Indonesian poet and playwright born in 1923. He was a prominent figure in the literary and cultural scene of Indonesia, and his works have made a lasting impact on the country's literary heritage.
It is important to note that while these examples showcase the historical presence of the name Saya, its usage and popularity may have varied across different regions and time periods. The name's connection to the Sanskrit language and its roots in ancient texts suggest a rich cultural and linguistic heritage.
People
Saya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saya 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
Saya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,233 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saya 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 277,984 US residents.
Is Saya a common name?
We classify Saya as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,246 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saya most popular?
The single biggest year for Saya was 2010, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saya 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 Saya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,235 people with the name Saya, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,676 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 Saya 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 Saya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saya leans strongly female. 1,210 people counted with this name were female (97.3%), compared with 33 male bearers (2.7%). 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 Saya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 29.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (22.9%) and White (22.5%). 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 Saya most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Saya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 29.2% (361 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 Saya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saya 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 Saya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saya 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 Saya 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 Saya?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.