Sira
An Arabic name meaning "bright path" or "luminous way".
Name Census estimates that about 238 living Americans carry the first name Sira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sira today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sira births was 2016 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sira. 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 Sira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
238
~ 1 in 1,440,144 Americans
Peak year
2016
15 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,940
Tracked since 1997
Census
Sira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 668 people with the first name Sira, which placed it at #16,760 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
#16,760
National first-name rank
People counted
668
668 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sira is Hispanic at 44.2%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and White (14.5%). 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 Sira 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 Sira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.2% · 295
- Black or African American26.0% · 174
- White14.5% · 97
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.2% · 75
- Two or more races3.9% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Sira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sira from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 92 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sira remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sira 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 Sira 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 Sira
The name Sira has its origins in Ancient Greek culture, dating back to the 5th century BC. It is believed to be derived from the Greek word "seiros," which means "chain" or "bond." This suggests that the name may have been associated with concepts of strength, unity, or interconnectedness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sira can be found in the works of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, who mentioned a character with this name in his comedic play "The Frogs," performed in 405 BC. However, it is unclear whether this was intended as a personal name or a reference to something else.
In the medieval period, the name Sira gained some prominence in the Middle East and parts of North Africa, likely influenced by the Arabic language and Islamic culture. Records indicate that there was a notable figure named Sira al-Muzaffar, a 12th-century Islamic scholar and writer from modern-day Iran.
Moving forward in history, one of the most famous individuals named Sira was Sira Bai, an Indian poet and mystic who lived in the 16th century. She is renowned for her devotional poetry and her contributions to the Bhakti movement, a spiritual renaissance in medieval India.
In the 18th century, Sira Singha was a prominent Sikh warrior and leader from the Punjab region of India. He played a significant role in the battles against the Mughal Empire and is remembered for his bravery and military prowess.
Another notable figure with the name Sira was Sira Sindhu, a 19th-century Indian social reformer and activist from the state of Odisha. She dedicated her life to promoting education and advocating for women's rights, establishing several schools and educational institutions.
While the name Sira has roots in various cultures and time periods, its usage has been relatively limited compared to some other names. Nevertheless, it holds a rich historical tapestry, carrying meanings of strength, unity, and spiritual devotion across different civilizations.
People
Sira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sira 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
Sira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sira 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 1,440,144 US residents.
Is Sira a common name?
We classify Sira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 241 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sira most popular?
The single biggest year for Sira was 2016, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sira is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 668 people with the name Sira, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,760 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 Sira 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 Sira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sira leans strongly female. 622 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 45 male bearers (6.7%). 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 Sira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sira is Hispanic at 44.2%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and White (14.5%). 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 Sira most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.2% (295 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 Sira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sira 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 Sira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sira 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 Sira 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 Sira as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Sira on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.