Sir
An honorific title of respect used to address men of rank or authority.
Name Census estimates that about 2,068 living Americans carry the first name Sir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sir today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sir births was 2021 (123 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sir. 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 Sir with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 165,742 Americans
Peak year
2021
123 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,962
Tracked since 1967
Census
Sir in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,798 people with the first name Sir, which placed it at #5,912 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
#5,912
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,798 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sir
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sir is Black at 45.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.2%) and Hispanic (13.9%). 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 Sir 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 Sir at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.4% · 1,271
- White30.2% · 845
- Hispanic or Latino13.9% · 390
- Two or more races5.3% · 147
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 123
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 22
Popularity
Sir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sir from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 613 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sir 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 Sir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sirs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Sir, while Michigan, Maryland, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sir
The given name Sir is derived from the Old French word "sire," which in turn originated from the Vulgar Latin "senior," meaning an elder or a person of higher rank or authority. The term gained prominence in medieval Europe, particularly in French-speaking regions, where it was used as a title of respect and honor.
Sir was initially a term of address for men of nobility, such as knights, barons, and lords. It signified their elevated social status and served as a mark of distinction. Over time, the term evolved and became a more general honorific used to address men of significant authority or accomplishment, regardless of their noble lineage.
The earliest recorded use of Sir as a title can be traced back to the 12th century, when it appeared in various literary works, legal documents, and official correspondence. In the medieval period, Sir was often accompanied by the individual's name or title, as in "Sir John" or "Sir Knight."
One of the most famous historical figures associated with the name Sir is Sir Lancelot, the legendary knight of King Arthur's Round Table. Lancelot's character first appeared in the 12th-century French romance "Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart" by Chrétien de Troyes and became a prominent figure in Arthurian literature.
Another notable bearer of the name Sir is Sir Galahad, the purest of the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. Galahad was the son of Sir Lancelot and was destined to achieve the quest for the Holy Grail, a sacred object in medieval literature.
In the 14th century, Sir Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned English poet and author, gained fame for his literary works, including "The Canterbury Tales." He is often referred to as the "Father of English Literature" and is considered one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages.
During the Renaissance period, Sir Thomas More, an English lawyer, scholar, and statesman, rose to prominence. He served as Lord Chancellor under King Henry VIII and is known for his work "Utopia," a fictional account of an idealized island society. Sir Thomas More was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1935.
In the 16th century, Sir Walter Raleigh, an English writer, poet, soldier, and explorer, gained renown for his exploits and contributions to the English Renaissance. He was a prominent figure during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and is remembered for his efforts in establishing the first English colony in North America, known as the "Lost Colony of Roanoke."
These are just a few examples of prominent historical figures who bore the name Sir, a title that has been associated with nobility, honor, and distinction throughout the ages.
People
Sir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sir 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
Sir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,068 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sir 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 165,742 US residents.
Is Sir a common name?
We classify Sir as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sir most popular?
The single biggest year for Sir was 2021, when 123 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sir is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sir in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,798 people with the name Sir, or 0.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,912 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 Sir 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 Sir?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sir leans strongly male. 2,753 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 41 female bearers (1.5%). 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 Sir?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sir is Black at 45.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.2%) and Hispanic (13.9%). 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 Sir most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.4% (1,271 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 Sir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sir 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 Sir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sir 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 Sir 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 share the name Sir?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.