Sigourney
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from a French surname.
Name Census estimates that about 380 living Americans carry the first name Sigourney. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sigourney today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sigourney births was 1989 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sigourney. 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 Sigourney with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
380
~ 1 in 901,985 Americans
Peak year
1989
43 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,285
Tracked since 1984
Census
Sigourney in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 396 people with the first name Sigourney, which placed it at #24,370 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
#24,370
National first-name rank
People counted
396
396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
35.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sigourney
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sigourney is White at 35.9%. The next largest groups are Black (34.8%) and Hispanic (14.4%). 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 Sigourney 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 Sigourney at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White35.9% · 142
- Black or African American34.8% · 138
- Hispanic or Latino14.4% · 57
- Two or more races11.4% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Popularity
Sigourney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sigourney from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 161 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
Sigourney 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 Sigourney during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sigourneys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sigourney
The name Sigourney is derived from the French surname Sigournay, which is a place name referring to the commune of Sigournais in the Vendée department of western France. The name is thought to have originated from the Gaulish word "segora," meaning "strength" or "victory."
The name Sigourney first gained popularity in the English-speaking world in the late 18th century, likely due to the influence of French culture and literature. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Sigourney Thrall, an American author and educator born in 1791.
In the 19th century, the name Sigourney became associated with several notable American figures. Sigourney Butler, born in 1828, was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War. Sigourney Webster, born in 1835, was a prominent architect who designed several buildings in New York City.
The most famous bearer of the name Sigourney is arguably the American actress Sigourney Weaver, known for her roles in films such as Alien, Ghostbusters, and Avatar. She was born in 1949 and continues to be a influential figure in Hollywood.
Another notable Sigourney is Sigourney Cheek, an American artist and sculptor born in 1908. Her works are featured in several museums and public collections across the United States.
In the literary world, Sigourney Thayer was an American novelist and short story writer who lived from 1888 to 1978. Her works often explored themes of social injustice and women's rights.
While the name Sigourney has French origins, it has been adopted and embraced by people of various cultural backgrounds, particularly in the United States. Its unique sound and historical significance have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sigourney
People
Sigourney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sigourney 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
Sigourney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sigourney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 380 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sigourney 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 901,985 US residents.
Is Sigourney a common name?
We classify Sigourney as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 392 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sigourney most popular?
The single biggest year for Sigourney was 1989, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sigourney is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sigourney in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 396 people with the name Sigourney, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,370 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 Sigourney 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 Sigourney?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sigourney leans strongly female. 387 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 10 male bearers (2.5%). 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 Sigourney?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sigourney is White at 35.9%. The next largest groups are Black (34.8%) and Hispanic (14.4%). 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 Sigourney most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sigourney in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.9% (142 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 Sigourney in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sigourney a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sigourney 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 Sigourney still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sigourney 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 Sigourney 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 have Sigourney as a first name?
See how many people share the name Sigourney on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.