Head to head · Girls' names
Sarah vs Sienna
#90 vs #94 in 2025
Sarah is a whisker ahead (#90 vs #94 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Sarah is holding its place on the charts, Sienna is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Sienna has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Sarah leads 5 measures of 6; Sienna leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Sarah #15, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1890s: Sarah #32, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1900s: Sarah #43, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1910s: Sarah #47, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1920s: Sarah #58, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1930s: Sarah #66, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1940s: Sarah #76, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1950s: Sarah #104, Sienna — — Sarah higher
- 1960s: Sarah #92, Sienna #6728 — Sarah higher
- 1970s: Sarah #28, Sienna #5162 — Sarah higher
- 1980s: Sarah #5, Sienna #3063 — Sarah higher
- 1990s: Sarah #5, Sienna #1210 — Sarah higher
- 2000s: Sarah #13, Sienna #426 — Sarah higher
- 2010s: Sarah #53, Sienna #226 — Sarah higher
- 2020s: Sarah #91, Sienna #138 — Sarah higher
Sarah stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Sarah | Sienna |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #15 | — |
| 1890s | #32 | — |
| 1900s | #43 | — |
| 1910s | #47 | — |
| 1920s | #58 | — |
| 1930s | #66 | — |
| 1940s | #76 | — |
| 1950s | #104 | — |
| 1960s | #92 | #6728 |
| 1970s | #28 | #5162 |
| 1980s | #5 | #3063 |
| 1990s | #5 | #1210 |
| 2000s | #13 | #426 |
| 2010s | #53 | #226 |
| 2020s | #91 | #138 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Sarah
- Canada#56
- France#64
Sienna
- England & Wales#19
- Scotland#36
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Sarah
princess, noblewoman
The Hebrew is a title rather than a description, and it was given as a replacement for an earlier name. The reading has never been seriously disputed.
Sarai → Sarah
How it traveled
The first piece of land anyone in the Bible buys is bought to bury her. When Sarah dies at Hebron, Abraham — who has been promised the whole country and owns none of it — approaches the local landowners and asks to purchase a burial cave.
Sienna
From Siena, and by way of the pigment, a reddish-brown earth color
The route is clear: the Italian city gave its name to the earth pigment, and the pigment and city together gave the given name. Where the city's own name came from is a separate and unsettled question — Etruscan and Gallic origins have both been argued, and neither has won.
Siena (Tuscan city) → terra di Siena (pigment) → sienna (English color word) → Sienna (given name)
How it traveled
Siena sits in Tuscany, and the clay-rich earth of its countryside was quarried for a pigment that painters simply called terra di Siena — Siena earth. English took it as 'sienna', raw or burnt, and it has been a standard artist's and crayon color ever since.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Sarah
SAIR-uh
Two syllables with the weight at the front. Continental Europe says SAH-rah, with the vowel of father, and the h-less spelling is the usual one there.
- Sadie — An older short form arrived at by a change of consonant; now a standing name of its own.
- Sal — An eighteenth and nineteenth-century short form, now largely retired.
- Sassy — An affectionate form used inside families.
- Sar — Cut to one syllable; the commonest modern informal form.
Sienna
see-EN-uh
Said the same way as the color, with the stress in the middle. Italian gives the city three syllables too, closer to SYEH-nah, but English speakers reliably land on see-EN-uh without being told.
- Sia — The most common family shortening; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Sienny — Informal and mostly used with young children rather than kept for life.
- Enna — Taken from the middle of the name; informal, used within families rather than widely recognized.
Who has carried each name
Sarah
Sarah Bernhardt (b. 1844) — The world's first international superstar actress
Sarah Jessica Parker (b. 1965) — Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw
Sarah Michelle Gellar (b. 1977) — Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself
Sienna
Sienna Miller (b. 1981) — Boho style icon and American Sniper star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Sarah if you want…
- a name holding steadySarah is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesSarah is 2 syllables to Sienna's 3
- a long American recordSarah was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 56% for Sienna
Choose Sienna if you want…
- a name on the way upup 72 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itSienna runs 3 syllables, Sarah 2
- a newer arrivalSienna entered the US charts in 1960
- a name that feels very nowSienna is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Sarah
Strengths
- It is recognized in Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradition alike, which almost no other name manages.
- It has a form in every European language and in Arabic and Hebrew.
- The meaning is short, settled and easy to explain to a child.
To consider
- Sara without the h is equally correct and will be written for you constantly.
- It is extremely common across several generations, so a child may share it with others.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a girl's name.
Sienna
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for English speakers, because the color word is already familiar from paintboxes and crayon sets.
- Charts in the United States, England and Scotland at once, so it travels across English-speaking countries without adjustment.
- Common enough to be recognized, uncommon enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
To consider
- Siena and Sienna both exist — the city takes one n, the color and the name take two. Expect a lifetime of gentle corrections in the other direction.
- It is climbing steadily, so a child named Sienna now may meet more of them later than the current classroom odds suggest.
- The name's wave is very recent, so nearly all Siennas in the US are children or young adults. That means little in practice, but it does read as a young name for now.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Sarah
12%chance Sarah feels dated by 2040
Sarah has held the top-100 across 14 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Sienna
56%chance Sienna feels dated by 2040
Sienna is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Sarah and Sienna in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Sarah and Sienna?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Sarah and Sienna — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Sarah or Sienna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Sarah or Sienna?
- Sarah, in 2025: Sarah ranked #90 with 2,710 babies; Sienna ranked #94 with 2,659 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Sarah or Sienna?
- Sienna. Over the last five years Sarah moved down 4 places; Sienna moved up 72 places.
- Which is the older name, Sarah or Sienna?
- Sarah was already in use when US records began in 1880; Sienna entered the US charts in 1960. On the American record, Sarah is the older name.
- How many people are named Sarah and Sienna?
- About 895,000 people named Sarah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 39,500 people named Sienna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Sarahs or Siennas in the classroom?
- Sarah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Sienna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Sarah, Sienna and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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