Explore the Family Name Sarah
The meaning of Sarah
1. Americanized form of Italian Sara 1 and Hungarian Sára, influenced by the English form of the Biblical personal name Sarah. 2. English (Cornwall and Devon): variant of Sare with final -e spelled -a(h) (see Sara 2), a common feature of names in Devon and Cornwall. Spellings of the surname with -ah may have been influenced by the form of the personal name in the King James Bible. 3. Muslim: from a variant of the Arabic personal name Sāra, of Biblical origin (see Sara 1). Some characteristic forenames: Arabic/Muslim Farid, Abdel, Bachar, Jamal, Khaled, Laila, Munir, Said.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Sarah in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Sarah has seen a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. It was ranked 41,995 in 2000 and then dropped to 43,369 in 2010, representing a change of -3.27%. However, the actual count of people with this surname rose slightly from 487 to 498 during the same period, marking an increase of 2.26%. The proportion per 100,000 also declined by -5.56%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #41,995 | #43,369 | -3.27% |
| Count | 487 | 498 | 2.26% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.18 | 0.17 | -5.56% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sarah
The ethnic identity associated with the surname Sarah notes some interesting shifts according to the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, the majority of individuals with this surname identified as White (75.77%), a percentage that slightly decreased to 74.90% in 2010. Those identifying as Black saw significant growth of 46.73%, increasing from 9.03% in 2000 to 13.25% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander slightly decreased from 5.34% to 5.02%. Interestingly, the data shows new representation in the Hispanic category at 4.42% in 2010, where there was none in 2000. However, the representation of the surname among those identifying as Two or more races was suppressed in 2010 for privacy reasons. There was no representation among American Indian and Alaskan Native identities in both years.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 75.77% | 74.9% | -1.15% |
| Black | 9.03% | 13.25% | 46.73% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 5.34% | 5.02% | -5.99% |
| Hispanic | 0% | 4.42% | 0% |
| Two or More Races | 5.13% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |