Sehar
A feminine Arabic name meaning "the time just before dawn".
Name Census estimates that about 200 living Americans carry the first name Sehar. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sehar today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sehar births was 1999 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sehar. 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 Sehar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
200
~ 1 in 1,713,772 Americans
Peak year
1999
15 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,200
Tracked since 1989
Census
Sehar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 361 people with the first name Sehar, which placed it at #26,014 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
#26,014
National first-name rank
People counted
361
361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sehar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sehar is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.3%. The next largest groups are White (6.1%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Sehar 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 Sehar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.3% · 326
- White6.1% · 22
- Two or more races3.3% · 12
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
Popularity
Sehar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sehar from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 68 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sehar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sehar 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 Sehar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sehars live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sehar
The name Sehar has its origins in the Persian language, where it means "morning" or "dawn." It is derived from the Persian word "sehar," which refers to the early hours of the day when the sun begins to rise. The name is believed to have been popular among Persian speakers for centuries, particularly in regions that are now part of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sehar can be found in medieval Persian literature, where it was occasionally used as a poetic reference to the beauty and freshness of the morning hours. In the 11th century, the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi mentioned the name in his epic poem, the Shahnameh, which is considered a masterpiece of Persian literature.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sehar. One of the most famous was Sehar Ansari (1397-1482), a renowned Sufi saint and poet from the Indian subcontinent. Her poetic works, which often focused on spiritual themes, were widely admired and continue to be celebrated to this day.
Another notable figure was Sehar Bano Begum (1916-1986), an Indian singer and actress who was a prominent figure in the early years of the Bollywood film industry. She was renowned for her melodious voice and her performances in several classic Indian films of the 1930s and 1940s.
In the realm of literature, Sehar Dehlvi (1828-1905) was a prominent Urdu poet and scholar from Delhi, India. Her poetry, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, was widely acclaimed during her lifetime and continues to be studied and appreciated by scholars of Urdu literature.
The name Sehar has also been borne by several influential figures in the world of sports. One example is Sehar Fatima (born 1988), a Pakistani cricketer who has represented her country in numerous international tournaments and is considered one of the most successful female cricketers in Pakistan's history.
Another notable individual with this name is Sehar Aqeel (born 1992), a Pakistani squash player who has won multiple international tournaments and has been ranked among the top squash players in the world. Her achievements have made her a role model for aspiring athletes in her home country and beyond.
While the name Sehar has its roots in the Persian language and culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and is now used by families from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds around the world, serving as a reminder of the rich tapestry of human diversity and the enduring appeal of names with deep historical and cultural significance.
People
Sehar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sehar 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
Sehar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sehar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 200 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sehar 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 1,713,772 US residents.
Is Sehar a common name?
We classify Sehar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 204 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sehar most popular?
The single biggest year for Sehar was 1999, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sehar is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sehar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 361 people with the name Sehar, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,014 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 Sehar 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 Sehar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sehar leans strongly female. 355 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 7 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 Sehar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sehar is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.3%. The next largest groups are White (6.1%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Sehar most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sehar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (326 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 Sehar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sehar a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sehar 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 Sehar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sehar 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 Sehar 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 share the name Sehar?
Want to know how many people have the name Sehar? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.