Saffron
Feminine · “saffron”
Saffron is the most expensive spice on earth by weight, and the reason is arithmetic: it is the stigmas of a crocus, three per flower, picked by hand, and it takes something in the region of a hundred and fifty thousand flowers to make a kilogram of it.
How old is the name Saffron?
Saffron first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Saffron alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 700 people named Saffron are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Saffron most popular?
Saffron peaked in 2000, reaching #3886 nationally. Today it ranks #6546, 2,660 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From zafaran to Saffron
The story of Saffron
Saffron has been cultivated for at least three thousand years and appears in Minoan frescoes, in the Song of Songs and in Roman cookery; it was grown in medieval England at Saffron Walden, which is named for it. The color it gives is the one Buddhist monastic robes are traditionally dyed with, and it has been used as a dye, a medicine and a spice throughout its history. As an English girls' name it belongs to the 1960s and after, arriving with a small group of spice and plant names, and its best year in United States records is 2000; it has been more used in Britain than in America.
Meaning
saffron, the spice and its color
From Old French safran, from Arabic zafaran, itself of uncertain earlier origin and possibly Persian. The word names the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus, the spice made from them, and the deep orange-yellow color they produce. English took the color sense along with the spice.
How the name formed
- zafaran
- safran
- saffron
Related forms: Safran · Azafran · Zafaran · Zafferano
Pronouncing Saffron
SAF-run
Two syllables with the stress on the first and the second reduced. Identical to the English word for the spice.
Nicknames for Saffron
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
- 1974
- Most girls named
- 200636 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3886reached in 2000
- Change vs 2024
- −26.1%17 in 2025, from 23
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.
Saffron in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Safran in French — related form
- Azafran in Spanish — related form
- Zafaran in Arabic — related form
- Zafferano in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Saffrons among us
people named Saffron are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 94,545 born in 2025 was named Saffron
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marcea test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Saffron's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marcea climbed just as high around 1948, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marcea's path sketches the road Saffron is walking now.
Saffron 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
Saffron beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Saffron in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A single vivid image, a color and a spice, all in one familiar word.
- Saffy is a warm and completely usable everyday form.
- A documented three-thousand-year history behind the word.
- It is an ordinary English noun and appears on menus and spice jars.
- It is considerably more familiar as a name in Britain than in America.
- The name reads as a 1960s and 1970s choice in some ears.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Saffron to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Saffron? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Saffron
Feminine · #6546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Saffrons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Saffron are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Saffron in 2025?
- Saffron ranks #6546 among US girl names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Saffron?
- About 1 in every 94,545 US girls born in 2025 was named Saffron — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Saffron with classmates?
- Saffron will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Saffron
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseann#6546 · Solveig#6546 · Elona#6546 · Rosette#6546 · Bradie#6546 · Rida#6546 · Gwendalyn#6546 · Lorene#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Saffron? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Saffron and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle