Sion
A Welsh name meaning "sun, sunny" or "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 813 living Americans carry the first name Sion. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Sion today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sion births was 2022 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sion. 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 Sion with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
813
~ 1 in 421,592 Americans
Peak year
2022
48 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,668
Tracked since 1912
Census
Sion in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 980 people with the first name Sion, which placed it at #12,628 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
#12,628
National first-name rank
People counted
980
980 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sion
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sion is White at 33.0%. The next largest groups are Black (27.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (24.0%). 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 Sion 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 Sion at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.0% · 323
- Black or African American27.2% · 267
- Asian and Pacific Islander24.0% · 235
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 100
- Two or more races5.6% · 55
Gender
Gender distribution for Sion
Sion leans heavily male at 89.9% of total registrations, but 85 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sion as a male name
- Ranked #3,668 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (43 births)
Sion as a female name
- Ranked #17,294 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sion on both sides of the split. Of the 990 people counted with this name, 789 were male (79.7%) and 201 were female (20.3%).
Popularity
Sion: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sion from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 255 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sion remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sion 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 Sion during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sions live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Sion, while Texas, Florida, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sion
The name Sion has its origins in Ancient Greek and Hebrew cultures, dating back to the 5th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "Σιών" (Siōn), which means "lofty" or "exalted". This word was initially used to refer to Mount Zion, a hill in Jerusalem that was of great religious and historical significance to the Jewish people.
In the Hebrew Bible, Mount Zion is mentioned numerous times and is closely associated with the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The name Sion became a symbol of the Jewish people's spiritual and national aspirations, and it was often used metaphorically to represent the entire nation of Israel.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sion can be found in the Book of Psalms, where it is mentioned in Psalm 48:2, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." This verse praises the beauty and significance of Mount Zion and its association with the city of Jerusalem.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sion. One of the most famous was Sion of Cyrene, a Jewish philosopher who lived in the 1st century AD. He is believed to have been one of the earliest converts to Christianity and is mentioned in the New Testament as the man who helped Jesus carry his cross.
Another notable figure was Sion of Alexandria, a 6th-century Coptic Christian bishop and writer. He is known for his work on the history of the Coptic Church and his efforts to promote the use of the Coptic language in religious services.
In the 12th century, there was Sion of Siena, an Italian Catholic saint and mystic. He is remembered for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and his visions and mystical experiences, which were recorded in his writings.
During the Renaissance period, Sion Taggesio (1492-1554) was an Italian humanist scholar and poet who wrote extensively on classical literature and philosophy.
In more recent times, Sion Sono (born 1961) is a Japanese filmmaker and poet known for his avant-garde and experimental works, exploring themes of violence, sexuality, and societal taboos.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Sion, a name that has its roots in ancient civilizations and has been carried forward through various cultures and religious traditions.
People
Sion + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sion 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
Sion: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sion?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 813 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sion 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 421,592 US residents.
Is Sion a common name?
We classify Sion as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 841 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sion most popular?
The single biggest year for Sion was 2022, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sion is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sion in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 980 people with the name Sion, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,628 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 Sion 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 Sion?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sion on both sides of the split. Of the 990 people counted with this name, 789 were male (79.7%) and 201 were female (20.3%). 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 Sion?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sion is White at 33.0%. The next largest groups are Black (27.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (24.0%). 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 Sion most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sion in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.0% (323 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 Sion in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sion a male name?
Yes, 89.9% of people registered as Sion in the SSA data are male. 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 Sion still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sion 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 Sion 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 Sion?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Sion at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.