Sirius
The brightest star in the constellation Canis Major.
Name Census estimates that about 689 living Americans carry the first name Sirius. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Sirius today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sirius births was 2022 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sirius. 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 Sirius with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
689
~ 1 in 497,466 Americans
Peak year
2022
61 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,657
Tracked since 1999
Census
Sirius in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 440 people with the first name Sirius, which placed it at #22,573 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
#22,573
National first-name rank
People counted
440
440 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sirius
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sirius is White at 48.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.1%) and Two or More Races (14.8%). 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 Sirius 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 Sirius at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.6% · 214
- Hispanic or Latino16.1% · 71
- Two or more races14.8% · 65
- Black or African American14.3% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 27
Gender
Gender distribution for Sirius
Out of the 694 babies given the name Sirius since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Sirius as a male name
- Ranked #2,657 in 2024
- 50 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (61 births)
Sirius as a female name
- Ranked #18,504 in 2016
- 5 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2016 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sirius leans strongly male. 402 people counted with this name were male (92.0%), compared with 35 female bearers (8.0%).
Popularity
Sirius: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sirius 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 324 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sirius remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sirius 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 Sirius during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sirius' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Sirius, while Michigan, Georgia, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sirius
The given name Sirius has its origins in ancient Greek mythology and astronomy. It is derived from the Greek word "seirios" which means "scorching" or "glowing". This name was used to refer to the brightest star in the night sky, known as the Dog Star or Sirius.
The name Sirius has been recorded in ancient Greek texts and astronomical records dating back to the 8th century BC. In Greek mythology, Sirius was associated with the dog Orion, who was known as a skilled hunter. The appearance of Sirius in the night sky was believed to bring scorching heat and drought.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Sirius was Sirius of Alexandria, a 4th-century AD Greek philosopher and mathematician. He is known for his work on the calculation of the circumference of the Earth and for his contributions to the study of geometry.
Another notable figure named Sirius was Sirius of Pavia, a 7th-century Italian monk and scholar. He is best known for his writings on theology and for his role in the establishment of the Benedictine monastic order.
In the 16th century, Sirius Paulinus was a Danish astronomer and mathematician. He made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and was involved in the development of the Gregorian calendar.
Sirius Tanner was an English Puritan minister and theologian who lived in the 17th century. He was known for his influential sermons and writings on religious topics.
In more recent history, Sirius Black was a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. He was an important member of the Order of the Phoenix and served as a godfather to the protagonist, Harry Potter.
While the name Sirius has ancient roots and has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon as a given name, likely due to its strong association with the celestial body and its meaning related to heat and scorching.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sirius
People
Sirius + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sirius 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
Sirius: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sirius?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 689 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sirius 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 497,466 US residents.
Is Sirius a common name?
We classify Sirius as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 694 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sirius most popular?
The single biggest year for Sirius was 2022, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sirius is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sirius in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 440 people with the name Sirius, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,573 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 Sirius 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 Sirius?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sirius leans strongly male. 402 people counted with this name were male (92.0%), compared with 35 female bearers (8.0%). 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 Sirius?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sirius is White at 48.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.1%) and Two or More Races (14.8%). 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 Sirius most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sirius in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.6% (214 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 Sirius in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sirius a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Sirius 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 Sirius still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sirius 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 Sirius 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 called Sirius?
You can see how many people share the name Sirius on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.