Sejla
An Arabic feminine name meaning "little brook" or "stream".
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Sejla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sejla today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sejla births was 2003 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sejla. 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
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
2003
15 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2014 SSA rank
#16,193
Tracked since 1998
Census
Sejla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 287 people with the first name Sejla, which placed it at #30,385 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
#30,385
National first-name rank
People counted
287
287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
98.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sejla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sejla is White at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.7%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Sejla 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 Sejla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.6% · 283
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 2
- Two or more races0.7% · 2
Popularity
Sejla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sejla from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 86 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
Sejla 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 Sejla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sejla
The name Sejla is believed to have originated from the Bosnian language, derived from the Turkish word "sej" meaning "precious" or "beloved." It gained popularity in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Ottoman rule in the region between the 15th and 19th centuries, reflecting the cultural influence of the Ottoman Empire.
The earliest known reference to the name Sejla can be found in historical records from the 16th century, when it was commonly used among Bosnian Muslims. Sejla is considered a traditionally Muslim name, although it has also been embraced by other communities in the Balkans over time.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sejla is Sejla Bajramović, a Bosnian woman who lived in the late 16th century and was known for her philanthropic work. Sejla Izetbegović (1944-2003) was a Bosnian author and the daughter of Alija Izetbegović, the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the 19th century, Sejla Karabeg (1825-1878) was a prominent Bosnian educator and advocate for women's rights. She established one of the first schools for girls in Sarajevo and played a significant role in promoting education and empowerment for women in Bosnia.
Another notable figure with the name Sejla was Sejla Kamerić (1907-1991), a Bosnian journalist and writer who actively contributed to the preservation of Bosnian cultural heritage through her literary works and advocacy.
Sejla Depedra (1946-2009) was a Bosnian painter and artist renowned for her vibrant and expressive works that captured the essence of Bosnian culture and traditions.
While the name Sejla has its roots in the Bosnian language and culture, it has gained recognition and popularity across various regions, particularly among Muslim communities in the Balkans and neighboring areas.
People
Sejla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sejla 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
Sejla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sejla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sejla 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 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Sejla a common name?
We classify Sejla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sejla most popular?
The single biggest year for Sejla was 2003, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sejla 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 Sejla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 287 people with the name Sejla, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,385 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 Sejla 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 Sejla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sejla appears almost entirely female. Of the 288 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Sejla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sejla is White at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.7%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Sejla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sejla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (283 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 Sejla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sejla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sejla 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 Sejla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sejla 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 Sejla 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 Sejla?
Find out how many Americans are named Sejla on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.