Sebastain
From Greek, meaning "venerable" or "revered".
Name Census estimates that about 484 living Americans carry the first name Sebastain. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sebastain today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sebastain births was 2002 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sebastain. 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
484
~ 1 in 708,170 Americans
Peak year
2002
24 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,701
Tracked since 1918
Census
Sebastain in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 572 people with the first name Sebastain, which placed it at #18,742 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
#18,742
National first-name rank
People counted
572
572 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sebastain
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sebastain is Hispanic at 44.4%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Black (10.1%). 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 Sebastain 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 Sebastain at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.4% · 254
- White37.9% · 217
- Black or African American10.1% · 58
- Two or more races5.2% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 6
Popularity
Sebastain: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sebastain from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 176 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sebastain 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 Sebastain during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sebastains live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sebastain
The name Sebastain has its origins in the ancient Greek language, deriving from the Greek word "sebastos," which means "venerable" or "revered." This name gained popularity during the early Christian era, particularly in the regions of the Mediterranean and the Byzantine Empire.
The name Sebastain is closely associated with Saint Sebastian, a revered early Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. According to legend, Sebastian was a Roman soldier who secretly converted to Christianity and was eventually executed for his faith by being tied to a tree and shot with arrows. His unwavering devotion and martyrdom made him a celebrated figure in Christian tradition, further popularizing the name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sebastain can be found in the Latin text "Acta Sanctorum" (Acts of the Saints), which chronicled the lives of Christian martyrs and saints. This text, dating back to the 5th century AD, contained accounts of Saint Sebastian's life and martyrdom, cementing the name's association with Christian spirituality and sacrifice.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sebastain. Some examples include:
1. Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), a renowned German composer and musician of the Baroque era, known for his monumental works such as the "Mass in B Minor" and the "Brandenburg Concertos."
2. Sebastian Cabot (c. 1476-1557), an Italian explorer and navigator who is credited with being the first European to explore the coast of North America after John Cabot's initial voyage.
3. Sebastian Kresge (1867-1966), an American entrepreneur and founder of the Kresge Company, which later became the renowned Kmart retail chain.
4. Sebastian Junger (born 1962), an American journalist, author, and filmmaker known for his works on war and adventure, including the bestselling book "The Perfect Storm."
5. Sebastian Vettel (born 1987), a German racing driver who has won four Formula One World Championship titles and is considered one of the most successful drivers in the sport's history.
These individuals, spanning different eras and fields, have helped to shape the cultural significance and enduring appeal of the name Sebastain throughout history.
People
Sebastain + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sebastain 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
Sebastain: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sebastain?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 484 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sebastain 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 708,170 US residents.
Is Sebastain a common name?
We classify Sebastain as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 500 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sebastain most popular?
The single biggest year for Sebastain was 2002, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sebastain is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sebastain in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 572 people with the name Sebastain, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,742 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 Sebastain 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 Sebastain?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sebastain appears almost entirely male. Of the 572 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Sebastain?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sebastain is Hispanic at 44.4%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Black (10.1%). 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 Sebastain most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sebastain in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.4% (254 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 Sebastain in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sebastain a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sebastain in the SSA data are male. 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 Sebastain still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sebastain 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 Sebastain 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 called Sebastain?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.