Sabra
Feminine · “Hebrew tzabar”
A sabra is a prickly pear: spiny on the outside and sweet within. Jews born in Palestine took the word for themselves in the 1930s, and it has meant a native-born Israeli ever since.
How old is the name Sabra?
Sabra was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Sabra alive today was born around 1968, making them about 57 years old. About 3,800 people named Sabra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sabra most popular?
Sabra peaked in 1887, reaching #633 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 10,284 places below that high. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From tzabar to Sabra
The story of Sabra
The metaphor is explicit and was meant to be: the cactus grows wild, survives without care, is rough to handle and sweet inside, and the generation born in Palestine before independence took it as a description of themselves against the perceived softness of the diaspora. The plant itself is American, brought from Mexico to the Mediterranean in the sixteenth century, which gives the emblem an irony its users generally acknowledge. The name's earlier American use has a different source: in the medieval legend, the princess whom St George rescues from the dragon is called Sabra in the English versions, and the story was still current in nineteenth-century chapbooks, which is the likelier route for a name peaking in the 1880s.
Meaningscholars disagree
Hebrew tzabar, the prickly pear
Sabra is the Hebrew name of the prickly pear cactus, adopted in the twentieth century as a term for a Jew born in the land. As a nineteenth-century American name it more likely comes from the princess Sabra of the St George legend. The peak is 1887.
How the name formed
- tzabar
- Sabra
Related forms: Tzabar · Sabrah
Pronouncing Sabra
SAH-bruh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some American speakers say SAY-bruh; both readings occur.
Nicknames for Sabra
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1963102 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #633reached in 1887
- Change vs 2021
- +33.3%8 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Sabra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tzabar in Hebrew — related form
- Sabrah in English — spelling variant
Sabras among us
people named Sabra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Sabra
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Sabra sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Sabra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sabra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables and five letters, spelled as heard.
- The Hebrew term behind it is vivid and documented.
- It is genuinely rare in every decade.
- Two pronunciations of the first vowel are in use.
- In Israel the word has a specific national meaning.
- Its 1887 peak places it early in the records.
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Sabra
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sabras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,800 people named Sabra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sabra in 2025?
- Sabra ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sabra?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Sabra — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sabra with classmates?
- Sabra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sabra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sabra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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