Sereta
A feminine name of unknown origin, potentially meaning "quiet" or "serene".
Name Census estimates that about 32 living Americans carry the first name Sereta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sereta today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sereta births was 1974 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sereta. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sereta. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
32
~ 1 in 10,711,073 Americans
Peak year
1974
7 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1983 SSA rank
#11,667
Tracked since 1940
Census
Sereta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 151 people with the first name Sereta, which placed it at #45,179 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
#45,179
National first-name rank
People counted
151
151 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sereta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sereta is Black at 47.0%. The next largest groups are White (39.1%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Sereta 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 Sereta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.0% · 71
- White39.1% · 59
- Two or more races5.3% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 3
Popularity
Sereta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sereta from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Sereta remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sereta 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 Sereta 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 Sereta
The name Sereta is believed to have originated from the ancient Greek language, tracing its roots back to the Hellenistic period around the 3rd century BC. It is thought to be derived from the Greek word "seretos," which translates to "tranquil" or "peaceful." This suggests that the name may have been given to individuals with a calm and serene demeanor.
During the Byzantine era, the name Sereta gained popularity among Greek-speaking communities in the eastern Mediterranean region. It was frequently bestowed upon children as a way to express the parents' wishes for a peaceful and harmonious life for their offspring.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sereta can be found in a collection of Byzantine manuscripts dating back to the 6th century AD. These manuscripts contain records of individuals bearing the name, indicating its usage during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sereta. One such figure was Sereta of Cyzicus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 1st century BC. She was renowned for her teachings on stoicism and virtue ethics, contributing significantly to the intellectual discourse of her era.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Sereta the Martyr, a Christian saint who lived during the 3rd century AD. According to hagiographic sources, she faced persecution for her faith and ultimately achieved martyrdom, becoming a revered figure in early Christian communities.
In the literary realm, Sereta Kozani was a celebrated Greek poet and playwright who lived from 1892 to 1976. Her works explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition, earning her critical acclaim and a place in the canon of modern Greek literature.
Additionally, Sereta Georgiadis (1924-2008) was a renowned Greek-American artist known for her vibrant abstract expressionist paintings. Her works were exhibited in prestigious galleries across the United States and Europe, and she received numerous accolades for her contributions to the art world.
Lastly, Sereta Stavrou (born 1960) is a distinguished Greek-American professor of political science and international affairs. She has authored several influential books and articles on topics related to conflict resolution, diplomacy, and global security, cementing her reputation as a leading scholar in her field.
People
Sereta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sereta 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
Sereta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sereta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 32 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sereta 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 10,711,073 US residents.
Is Sereta a common name?
We classify Sereta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 43 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sereta most popular?
The single biggest year for Sereta was 1974, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sereta is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sereta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 151 people with the name Sereta, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,179 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 Sereta 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 Sereta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sereta leans strongly female. 150 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Sereta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sereta is Black at 47.0%. The next largest groups are White (39.1%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Sereta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sereta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.0% (71 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 Sereta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sereta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sereta 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 Sereta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sereta 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 Sereta 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 Sereta?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.