Sequoya
A Cherokee-invented name associated with literacy and the Cherokee syllabary.
Name Census estimates that about 481 living Americans carry the first name Sequoya. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Sequoya today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sequoya births was 1991 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sequoya. 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
481
~ 1 in 712,587 Americans
Peak year
1991
31 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
1986 SSA rank
#7,638
Tracked since 1978
Census
Sequoya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 451 people with the first name Sequoya, which placed it at #22,181 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
#22,181
National first-name rank
People counted
451
451 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
55.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sequoya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sequoya is Black at 55.2%. The next largest groups are White (18.6%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Sequoya 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 Sequoya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.2% · 249
- White18.6% · 84
- Two or more races10.9% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native8.0% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Sequoya
Sequoya leans heavily female at 99.0% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sequoya as a male name
- Ranked #7,638 in 1986
- 5 male births in 1986
- Peak: 1986 (5 births)
Sequoya as a female name
- Ranked #17,217 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1991 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sequoya leans strongly female. 402 people counted with this name were female (88.7%), compared with 51 male bearers (11.3%).
Popularity
Sequoya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sequoya from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 220 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sequoya 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 Sequoya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sequoyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Sequoya, while South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sequoya
The name Sequoya is derived from the Cherokee language and is associated with the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary writing system, Sequoyah, who lived from around 1770 to 1843. The name is a transliteration of the Cherokee word ᏎᎦᏯ (se-qua-ya), which means "pig's foot" or "pigs' child".
Sequoyah, also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Cherokee silversmith who is renowned for creating the Cherokee syllabary, a writing system that enabled the Cherokee language to be written down. His work played a crucial role in preserving and perpetuating the Cherokee language and culture.
Although the name Sequoya does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has gained significance due to its association with Sequoyah and his remarkable achievement in developing the Cherokee syllabary.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sequoya is, of course, Sequoyah himself, who was born around 1770 in the Cherokee village of Tsaw-aw-hu-tie in what is now Monroe County, Tennessee.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Sequoya, often in honor of the famous Cherokee leader and his contributions to literacy and education. These include:
1. Sequoya Tingo Barnes (1918-1972), a Cherokee actor and educator known for his roles in films such as "The Searchers" and "Cheyenne Autumn".
2. Sequoya Celestine (born 1960), a Choctaw-Houma artist and illustrator known for her work depicting Native American culture and traditions.
3. Sequoya Samaro (born 1983), a Cherokee artist and fashion designer who incorporates traditional Cherokee motifs and symbols into her designs.
4. Sequoya Huggins (born 1988), a Cherokee basketball player who played for the University of Arkansas and participated in the WNBA draft.
5. Sequoya Wesley (born 1995), a Cherokee musician and singer-songwriter who incorporates elements of traditional Cherokee music into her compositions.
These individuals, along with many others, have carried on the legacy of Sequoyah and the significance of the name Sequoya within the Cherokee community and beyond.
People
Sequoya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sequoya 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
Sequoya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sequoya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 481 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sequoya 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 712,587 US residents.
Is Sequoya a common name?
We classify Sequoya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 498 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sequoya most popular?
The single biggest year for Sequoya was 1991, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sequoya is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sequoya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 451 people with the name Sequoya, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,181 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 Sequoya 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 Sequoya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sequoya leans strongly female. 402 people counted with this name were female (88.7%), compared with 51 male bearers (11.3%). 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 Sequoya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sequoya is Black at 55.2%. The next largest groups are White (18.6%) and Two or More Races (10.9%). 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 Sequoya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sequoya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.2% (249 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 Sequoya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sequoya a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Sequoya 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 Sequoya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sequoya 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 Sequoya 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 Sequoya?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Sequoya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.