Sloane
From the Old Irish, meaning "raider" or "warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 22,740 living Americans carry the first name Sloane. It sits at #153 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Sloane today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sloane births was 2022 (2,074 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sloane. 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 Sloane with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Sloane is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 404 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Sloane is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
23K
~ 1 in 15,073 Americans
Peak year
2022
2,074 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#153
Tracked since 1958
Census
Sloane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,111 people with the first name Sloane, which placed it at #2,076 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
#2,076
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
13,111 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sloane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sloane is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Sloane 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 Sloane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 10,668
- Two or more races7.2% · 945
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 919
- Black or African American3.0% · 390
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 145
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 44
Gender
Gender distribution for Sloane
Sloane leans heavily female at 98.2% of total registrations, but 404 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sloane as a male name
- Ranked #5,010 in 2024
- 20 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (24 births)
Sloane as a female name
- Ranked #153 in 2024
- 1,937 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (2,056 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sloane leans strongly female. 12,817 people counted with this name were female (97.7%), compared with 297 male bearers (2.3%).
Popularity
Sloane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sloane from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 10,222 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
Sloane 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 Sloane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sloanes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Sloane, while Vermont, Wyoming, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 407 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sloane
The name Sloane has its origins in the Irish language and is believed to have derived from the Gaelic word "Sluan," which means "raider" or "warrior." This name was commonly found in Ireland during the Middle Ages, particularly among the clans and families of the northern and western regions.
In ancient Irish texts and historical records, the name Sloane is often associated with legendary figures and warriors who played significant roles in battles and conflicts. One notable example is Sloane Mac Raith, a renowned chieftain from the 9th century who led his clan in numerous raids and skirmishes against rival clans.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Sloane can be traced back to the 12th century. One of the first documented individuals with this name was Sloane O'Donnell, a member of the powerful O'Donnell dynasty that ruled over parts of Ulster in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sloane. One of the most famous was Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), a British physician, naturalist, and collector whose extensive collection formed the foundation of the British Museum. Another prominent Sloane was John Sloane (1776-1856), an American politician and lawyer who served as a representative for Ohio in the United States Congress.
In the literary realm, the name Sloane is associated with the American author John Phillips Sloane (1872-1944), known for his works on adventure and exploration. The British author and playwright, Sloane Wilson (1920-2003), also carried this name and gained recognition for his novel "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit."
Another noteworthy individual was Sloane Stephens (born 1993), an American professional tennis player who won the US Open in 2017 and has achieved numerous other accolades in her career.
While the name Sloane has Irish roots, it has gained popularity and recognition across various cultures and regions over the centuries, with individuals from diverse backgrounds bearing this name and leaving their mark in various fields.
People
Sloane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sloane 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
Sloane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sloane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22,740 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sloane 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 15,073 US residents.
Is Sloane a common name?
We classify Sloane as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22,990 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sloane most popular?
The single biggest year for Sloane was 2022, when 2,074 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sloane 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 Sloane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,111 people with the name Sloane, or 4.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,076 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 Sloane 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 Sloane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sloane leans strongly female. 12,817 people counted with this name were female (97.7%), compared with 297 male bearers (2.3%). 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 Sloane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sloane is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Sloane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sloane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (10,668 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 Sloane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sloane a female name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Sloane 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 Sloane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sloane 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 Sloane 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 Sloane?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.