How popular is the baby name Sara in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Sara.

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Popularity of the baby name Sara


Posts that mention the name Sara

Popular baby names in Spain, 2023

Flag of Spain
Flag of Spain

Two years ago, the country of Spain welcomed 320,656 babies — 156,039 (49%) girls and 164,617 (51%) boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Lucia and Hugo.

Here are Spain’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Lucia, 3,076 baby girls
  2. Sofia, 2,990
  3. Martina, 2,507
  4. Maria, 2,242
  5. Julia, 2,162
  6. Valeria, 2,047
  7. Olivia, 1,838
  8. Emma, 1,770
  9. Paula, 1,720
  10. Vega, 1,719
  11. Mia, 1,660
  12. Alma, 1,615 (tie)
  13. Carmen, 1,615 (tie)
  14. Daniela, 1,543
  15. Carla, 1,507
  16. Lara, 1,418
  17. Sara, 1,389
  18. Jimena, 1,362
  19. Lola, 1,355
  20. Gala, 1,339
  21. Noa, 1,298
  22. Alba, 1,283
  23. Claudia, 1,269
  24. Chloe, 1,221
  25. Valentina, 1,197
  26. Aitana, 1,037
  27. Alejandra, 1,005
  28. Manuela, 986
  29. Triana, 980
  30. Laia, 936
  31. Candela, 917
  32. Abril, 898
  33. Ana, 897 (tie)
  34. Zoe, 897 (tie)
  35. Ines, 880
  36. Victoria, 866
  37. Vera, 864
  38. Elena, 857
  39. Adriana, 828
  40. Blanca, 813
  41. Carlota, 746
  42. Nora, 727
  43. Marina, 723
  44. Rocio, 702
  45. Clara, 693
  46. Lia, 679
  47. Luna, 666
  48. Amira, 608
  49. Marta, 606
  50. Alicia, 583

Boy names

  1. Hugo, 3,126 baby boys
  2. Mateo, 3,100
  3. Martin, 2,917
  4. Leo, 2,542
  5. Lucas, 2,394
  6. Manuel, 2,339
  7. Pablo, 2,224
  8. Alejandro, 2,102
  9. Enzo, 2,062
  10. Daniel, 1,957
  11. Alvaro, 1,919
  12. Thiago, 1,560
  13. Adrian, 1,506
  14. Mario, 1,505
  15. Liam, 1,493
  16. Diego, 1,422
  17. Luca, 1,394
  18. Bruno, 1,367
  19. Oliver, 1,331
  20. Gonzalo, 1,278
  21. David, 1,243
  22. Alex, 1,223
  23. Marcos, 1,201
  24. Gael, 1,199
  25. Nicolas, 1,171
  26. Miguel, 1,162
  27. Izan, 1,158
  28. Marco, 1,148
  29. Antonio, 1,118
  30. Javier, 1,105
  31. Juan, 1,056
  32. Gabriel, 980
  33. Angel, 924
  34. Dylan, 911
  35. Carlos, 905
  36. Marc, 899
  37. Rodrigo, 868
  38. Jose, 866
  39. Dario, 860
  40. Adam, 818
  41. Samuel, 718
  42. Noah, 713
  43. Jaime, 703 (tie)
  44. Jorge, 703 (tie)
  45. Francisco, 657
  46. Santiago, 654
  47. Sergio, 647
  48. Guillermo, 630 (tie)
  49. Pau, 630 (tie)
    • Pau, the Catalan and Occitan form of Paul, is also a homophone of pau, the Catalan word for “peace.” This makes it similar to the Spanish name Paz, which comes from the Marian title Nuestra Señora de la Paz (transl. “Our Lady of Peace”).
  50. Eric, 616

In the girls’ top 10, Vega replaced Daniela.

In the boys’ top 10, Enzo replaced Alvaro.

A year earlier, in 2022, the top names in Spain were Lucia and Martin.

Sources: Apellidos y nombres más frecuentes – INEbase, Estadística de nacimientos – INEbase, Pau – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Spain (public domain)

Popular baby names in Switzerland, 2024

Flag of Switzerland
Flag of Switzerland

Last year, the European country of Switzerland welcomed 78,256 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.

Here are Switzerland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 377 baby girls
  2. Mia, 367
  3. Sofia, 321
  4. Emilia, 271
  5. Lina, 255
  6. Elena, 253
  7. Mila, 252
  8. Olivia, 245
  9. Nora, 241
  10. Lia, 223
  11. Luna, 207
  12. Lea, 203
  13. Elina, 199
  14. Alina, 197
  15. Malea, 194
  16. Amelia, 189
  17. Nina, 186
  18. Sophia, 185
  19. Anna, 183
  20. Aurora, 181
  21. Chiara, 179 (tie)
  22. Leonie, 179 (tie)
  23. Ella, 178
  24. Yara, 170
  25. Lena, 167
  26. Lara, 165
  27. Eva, 162
  28. Alice, 160
  29. Giulia, 155
  30. Laura, 149
  31. Luana, 147
  32. Valentina, 146
  33. Maria, 144
  34. Elin, 142
  35. Julia, 141
  36. Malia, 137
  37. Alea, 136
  38. Juna, 135
  39. Aria, 133
  40. Ava, 132
  41. Livia, 130
  42. Dua, 129 (tie)
  43. Inaya, 129 (tie)
  44. Sara, 127
  45. Ayla, 119 (tie)
  46. Liana, 119 (tie)
  47. Alma, 118 (tie)
  48. Emily, 118 (tie)
  49. Sophie, 117 (tie)
  50. Victoria, 117 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 511 baby boys
  2. Liam, 395
  3. Matteo, 326
  4. Gabriel, 285
  5. Luca, 280
  6. Leo, 243
  7. Louis, 239
  8. Elio, 237
  9. Leon, 234
  10. Leano, 233
  11. Elias, 227
  12. Levi, 208
  13. Lio, 194
  14. Aaron, 191 (tie)
  15. Elia, 191 (tie)
  16. Theo, 187
  17. Leonardo, 185 (tie)
  18. Luan, 185 (tie)
  19. Nino, 181
  20. Noé, 180
  21. Malik, 176
  22. Enea, 174
  23. David, 168
  24. Livio, 167 (tie)
  25. Nico, 167 (tie)
  26. Finn, 163
  27. Samuel, 162
  28. Mateo, 161
  29. Adam, 158
  30. Lian, 157
  31. Arthur, 155
  32. Leandro, 147 (tie)
  33. Mattia, 147 (tie)
  34. Emilio, 145 (tie)
  35. Nael, 145 (tie)
  36. Mael, 144
  37. Henry, 142
  38. Emil, 141 (tie)
  39. Julian, 141 (tie)
  40. Diego, 140
  41. Kian, 139
  42. Ben, 137
  43. Laurin, 136
  44. Oliver, 132
  45. Levin, 129
  46. Lino, 128
  47. Dario, 124
  48. Robin, 120
  49. Jonas, 113 (tie)
  50. Nathan, 113 (tie)

Two of the fastest-rising names were Liora (for girls) and Clément (for boys).

Switzerland, which is home to over 9 million people, has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Here are the top names among the speakers of each of these languages:

Girl namesBoy names
German speakers
(62.3% of the population)		1. Mia, 275
2. Emilia, 241
3. Emma, 234		1. Noah, 365
2. Liam, 257
3. Matteo, 252
French speakers
(22.8% of pop.)		1. Emma, 124
2. Olivia, 103
3. Eva, 80		1. Gabriel, 130
2. Noah, 129
3. Liam, 117
Italian speakers
(8.0% of pop.)		1. Aurora, 27
2. Sofia, 22
3. Ginevra, 21		1. Leonardo, 31
2. Enea, 26 (tie)
3. Tommaso, 26 (tie)
Romansh speakers
(0.5% of pop.)		1. Alina, 41. David, 3 (tie)
2. Gino, 3 (tie)

And here’s a selection of the uncommon names that were given to just two babies each in Switzerland in 2024:

Rare girl names Rare boy names
Audélia, Berina, Cassia, Dasel, Etna, Fadrina, Galina, Hasti, Ioli, Joaquina, Kokob, Liridona, Maurane, Nilde, Ona, Pelda, Ruena, Sira, Thémis, Verica, Waimea, Xara, Yangtso, ZeenaAtari, Boaz, Célien, Deran, Enoa, Fanuel, Gaspar, Harald, Icaro, Jonte, Keylam, Lisi, Mayeul, Niculin, Onno, Pepe, Rodion, Shukri, Tsering, Urs, Vidar, Wilhelm, Yafiet, Zana

Possible explanations/associations for several of the above:

  • Etna is the name of Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna, which is located on the island of Sicily.
  • Fadrina is the feminine form of Fadri, a Romansh name related to Frederick.
  • Liridona is based on the Albanian word liri, meaning “freedom, liberty.”
  • Niculin is a Romansh name related to Nicholas.
  • Waimea is a Hawaiian place-name meaning “reddish water.” (I remember seeing a single baby named Waimea in the 2021 Sonoma rankings, but I didn’t expect to find two babies named Waimea in Switzerland!)

Other Romansh names I noticed in the rankings were the girl name Bigna (given to 12 babies) and the boy names Corsin (10) and Curdin (5).

Finally, here are Switzerland’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names of newborns – Federal Statistical Office, Births and deaths – Federal Statistical Office, Languages of Switzerland – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian Language Dictionaries

Image: Adapted from Flag of Switzerland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Latvia, 2018-2022

Flag of Latvia
Flag of Latvia

From 2018 to 2022, the European country of Latvia — which shares land borders with Estonia and Lithuania (the other two Baltic states) as well as Russia and Belarus — welcomed more than 89,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofija and Olivers.

Here are Latvia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names for the five-year period (2018-2022):

Girl names

  1. Sofija
  2. Emilija*
  3. Alise
  4. Anna
  5. Marta
  6. Amelija*
  7. Paula
  8. Emma
  9. Elizabete
  10. Darta* – the Latvian form of Dorothea
  11. Estere
  12. Elza
  13. Mia
  14. Viktorija
  15. Marija
  16. Katrina*
  17. Gabriela
  18. Keita – the Latvian form of Kate
  19. Melanija*
  20. Eva
  21. Alisa
  22. Evelina*
  23. Odrija – the Latvian form of Audrey
  24. Milana
  25. Nora
  26. Madara – the Latvian word for bedstraw (i.e., plants in the genus Galium)
  27. Patricija*
  28. Nikola
  29. Hanna
  30. Luize*
  31. Eliza*
  32. Maija
  33. Olivija*
  34. Laura
  35. Anastasija
  36. Amanda
  37. Kate
  38. Melisa
  39. Enija – the Latvian form of Annie
  40. Aleksandra
  41. Veronika
  42. Adelina*
  43. Sara*
  44. Karlina*
  45. Rebeka
  46. Šarlote – the Latvian form of Charlotte
  47. Arina
  48. Kira
  49. Adele
  50. Ieva – the Latvian word for bird cherry (Prunus padus)

Boy names

  1. Olivers
  2. Roberts
  3. Marks
  4. Gustavs
  5. Emils*
    • The usage of Emils rose steeply during the 1990s (and likely earlier) thanks to the 1985 TV movie Emila nedarbi, which was so popular (and aired so frequently) in Latvia “that many of the lines of the leading character Emils and his parents have become part of the national lexicon.” The program was based on the children’s novel Emil i Lönneberga by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.
  6. Markuss
  7. Daniels
  8. Karlis*
  9. Adrians
  10. Jekabs*
  11. Aleksandrs
  12. Ernests
  13. Ralfs
  14. Dominiks
  15. Alekss
  16. Tomass
    • The rise of Tomass during the 2000s may be attributable to skeleton racer Tomass Dukurs, who began racing professionally in 1998.
  17. Arturs*
  18. Ricards (the “c” should have a caron)
  19. Toms
  20. Maksims
  21. Teodors
  22. Janis*
    • The pre-Christian name Janis, which was adopted as the Latvian equivalent of Johannes/John, “has been at or near the top of the list for popular names given to baby boys in Latvia for centuries.”
  23. Artjoms – the Latvian form of the Russian name Artyom
  24. Reinis
  25. Kristers – the Latvian form of the Swedish name Christer
  26. Lukass*
  27. Martins
    • The rise of Martins during the 2000s may be attributable to skeleton racer Martins Dukurs, who, like his older brother Tomass, began racing professionally in 1998. Martins was a silver medalist at both the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
  28. Gabriels
  29. Timurs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Timur
  30. Valters – the Latvian form of Walter
  31. Kristofers
  32. Everts
  33. Hugo
  34. Davids*
  35. Mihails
  36. Matvejs – the Latvian form of the Russian name Matvey
  37. Renars* – the Latvian form of the German name Reinhard
  38. Edvards
  39. Rudolfs*
  40. Oskars
  41. Henrijs
  42. Leo
  43. Rihards
  44. Rodrigo
  45. Pauls
  46. Kristaps – the Latvian form of Christopher
  47. Alberts
  48. Matiss* – the Latvian form of Matthew
  49. Patriks
  50. Daniils

The girl’s top 100 included Lauma (69th), the name of a woodland spirit in Latvian mythology.

The boys’ top 100 included Viesturs (94th), which is based on the Latvian word viesturis, meaning “hospitable.”

And two of the names that dropped out of the top 100 recently are Kristine* and Lasma*:

  • Kristine, the #1 girl name in Latvia throughout the 1980s, was originally popularized by the 1966 Soviet-Latvian film Purva bridejs, which featured a character named Kristine.
  • Lasma, a top-50 girl name from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, was influenced by the 1981 Soviet-Latvian film Limuzins Janu nakts krasa, which featured a character named Lasma.

During the previous five-year period, from 2013 to 2017, the top names in Latvia were Sofija and Roberts.

*Letters with macrons don’t render properly on my site, so please imagine they exist in the names marked with an asterisk.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Latvia (public domain)

Top Hebrew baby names in Israel, 5785

Flag of Israel
Flag of Israel

The country of Israel releases two sets of baby name rankings: one for the Gregorian year (e.g., 2024), the other for the Hebrew year.

I don’t usually post the Hebrew-year rankings, but I was intrigued by the latest set, which was released a couple of weeks before the end of 5785 (Oct. 2024 to Sep. 2025, roughly).

Below are Israel’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names — both overall and among Jewish residents specifically — for the Hebrew year 5785:

Girls names

Top girl names, all babiesTop girl names, Jewish babies
Avigail
Miriam
Libi
Tamar
Sara
Lia
Yael
Ella
Ayala
Noa		Avigail
Tamar
Libi
Yael
Sara
Ella
Noa
Lia
Ayala
Esther

Boy names

Top boy names, all babiesTop boy names, Jewish babies
Muhammad
Yosef
Adam
David
Lavie/Lavi
Ariel
Omar
Rafael
Uri
Yehuda		Lavie/Lavi
Ariel
David
Rafael
Uri
Yehuda
Eliya
Ari
Eitan
Micha’el

The news release suggested that Lavi, which means “lion” in Hebrew, became the most popular name for Jewish boys due to the influence of Israel’s Operation Am KeLavi (“a people like a lion”), which was launched against Iran in June of 2025. (The war lasted 12 days.)

Except…Lavi has been close to the top spot for several years now. It ranked #2 among Jewish boys in both 2023 and 2020, for instance. So did the headlines really push Lavi to #1, or would it have ended up there regardless?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Israel (public domain)