Sparrow
A small bird known for its nimble and swift movements.
Name Census estimates that about 1,133 living Americans carry the first name Sparrow. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Sparrow today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sparrow births was 2017 (99 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sparrow. 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 Sparrow with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Sparrow 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 302,519 Americans
Peak year
2017
99 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,554
Tracked since 1977
Census
Sparrow in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 819 people with the first name Sparrow, which placed it at #14,409 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
#14,409
National first-name rank
People counted
819
819 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sparrow
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sparrow is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Two or More Races (10.0%). 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 Sparrow 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 Sparrow at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.7% · 522
- Hispanic or Latino14.4% · 118
- Two or more races10.0% · 82
- Black or African American6.2% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Sparrow
Sparrow leans heavily female at 84.8% of total registrations, but 174 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sparrow as a male name
- Ranked #5,012 in 2024
- 20 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (20 births)
Sparrow as a female name
- Ranked #3,554 in 2024
- 44 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (88 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sparrow leans strongly female. 693 people counted with this name were female (84.6%), compared with 126 male bearers (15.4%).
Popularity
Sparrow: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sparrow from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 683 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sparrow remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sparrow 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 Sparrow during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sparrows live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Sparrow, while New York, North Carolina, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sparrow
The name Sparrow has its origins in Old English, derived from the word "spearwa," which referred to the small songbird. This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, roughly between the 5th and 11th centuries AD. The name's connection to the bird suggests a possible association with freedom, lightness, or a connection to nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sparrow can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in this historic document, indicating its use among the Anglo-Saxon population at the time.
In the 13th century, the name Sparrow appeared in the writings of the English philosopher and theologian Robert Grosseteste, who served as the Bishop of Lincoln. He made reference to a person named Sparrow in his works, further solidifying the name's presence in medieval England.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sparrow. One such figure was John Sparrow, an English scholar and translator who lived from 1615 to 1670. He was known for his translations of classical Greek and Roman texts, contributing to the preservation and dissemination of ancient literature.
Another prominent figure was Mary Sparrow, a 17th-century Quaker preacher and writer. Born in 1639, she was a vocal advocate for religious tolerance and women's rights, publishing several works that challenged the societal norms of her time.
In the realm of literature, the name Sparrow is associated with the English poet and playwright John Sparrow, who lived from 1906 to 1992. He was a renowned scholar of English literature and served as the Warden of All Souls College, Oxford, from 1952 to 1977.
Sparrow also found its way into the world of sports, with one notable figure being Maxine Sparrow, a British sprinter and hurdler who competed in the 1960s and 1970s. She represented Great Britain at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in the 4x100m relay at the latter event.
While the name Sparrow may have originated from a humble connection to a small bird, it has been carried by individuals who have left their mark in various fields throughout history, from literature and religion to sports and academics.
People
Sparrow + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sparrow 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
Sparrow: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sparrow?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sparrow 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 302,519 US residents.
Is Sparrow a common name?
We classify Sparrow as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sparrow most popular?
The single biggest year for Sparrow was 2017, when 99 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sparrow 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 Sparrow in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 819 people with the name Sparrow, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,409 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 Sparrow 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 Sparrow?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sparrow leans strongly female. 693 people counted with this name were female (84.6%), compared with 126 male bearers (15.4%). 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 Sparrow?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sparrow is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Two or More Races (10.0%). 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 Sparrow most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sparrow in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.7% (522 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 Sparrow in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sparrow a female name?
Yes, 84.8% of people registered as Sparrow 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 Sparrow still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sparrow 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 Sparrow 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 Sparrow?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.