Sapphire
Feminine · Hebrew roots · “the blue gemstone”
Sapphire is one of the gem names English has been saying for the better part of a thousand years, though its life as a given name is a recent thing — it sits alongside Ruby, Pearl and Opal, the plainest and prettiest corner of the English naming vocabulary. It runs three syllables and finishes on that open -ire, so it fills a mouth the way Guinevere or Clementine do. It is also the birthstone of September.
How old is the name Sapphire?
Sapphire first appears in US birth records in 1979 — 46 years ago. The typical Sapphire is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,000 people named Sapphire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sapphire most popular?
Sapphire peaked in 2022, reaching #910 nationally. Today it ranks #1057, 147 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Sapphire appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From sappir (Hebrew) to Sapphire
The story of Sapphire
The stone is older in language than in jewelry counters: sapphire appears among the precious stones of Hebrew scripture, and the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible carried sappheiros into their text, from which Latin and then Old French safir brought it to medieval English. For centuries it stayed strictly a word for a thing. Then Victorian and Edwardian English-speakers began handing gem and flower words to daughters — Ruby, Pearl, Opal, Beryl — and Sapphire eventually joined them, arriving noticeably later than its cousins. Its use as a given name in the United States belongs to living memory rather than to the old records, and it has held a modest, remarkably even place ever since.
Meaning
the blue gemstone
The word traveled from Hebrew sappir into Greek sappheiros, then Latin and Old French, before settling into English. In the oldest texts the Greek word covered lapis lazuli as much as the stone we call sapphire today, and whether the chain reaches further back to a Sanskrit source is still argued among etymologists.
How the name formed
- sappirHebrew
- sappheirosGreek
- sapphirusLatin
- safirOld French
- Sapphire
Related forms: Sapir · Zafiro · Zaffiro · Saphir · Saphira · Sappheira
Pronouncing Sapphire
SAF-eye-er
Stress on the first syllable. The double p makes a single f sound, and many speakers compress the ending to two syllables — SAF-ire — in ordinary speech.
Nicknames for Sapphire
High
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
- 1979
- Most girls named
- 2022301 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #910reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −4.9%233 in 2025, from 245
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.
Sapphire in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sapir in Hebrew — related form
- Zafiro in Spanish — related form
- Zaffiro in Italian — related form
- Saphir in French — related form
- Saphira in English — spelling variant
- Sappheira in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Sapphires among us
people named Sapphire are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 6,898 born in 2025 was named Sapphire
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 Kevin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sapphire's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kevin climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kevin's path sketches the road Sapphire is walking now.
Sapphire 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
Where Sapphire is headed
Sapphire should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Sapphire beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sapphire in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled exactly like the English word, so almost everyone reads it correctly on sight without a pronunciation lesson.
- Sits in a long-established family of English gem names — Ruby, Pearl, Opal — which gives it precedent rather than novelty.
- The word itself is recognizable across Spanish, Italian, French and Hebrew in closely related forms, so it travels without becoming unrecognizable.
- Common enough to be understood, uncommon enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- Carries a ready-made short form in Saph, plus the option of using the full name every time.
- The double p gets dropped constantly. Expect Saphire, Safire and Saphira on forms and class lists, and a lifetime of spelling it out loud.
- Word names bring their object with them. Sapphire suggests jewelry and luxury to some ears, and it has had occasional use as a stage name, which is worth knowing before you decide.
- In the Book of Acts, Sapphira is a woman remembered for a lie and its consequences. The spellings differ and few will make the link, but readers of scripture sometimes do.
- It is a full-length, decorative name. If you like a shorter everyday option, it is worth checking that Saph sounds right to you, since the alternatives are thin.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Sapphire 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 Sapphire? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Sapphire
Feminine · Hebrew roots · #1057 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sapphires are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,000 people named Sapphire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sapphire in 2025?
- Sapphire ranks #1057 among US girl names in 2025, with 233 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sapphire?
- About 1 in every 6,898 US girls born in 2025 was named Sapphire — 233 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sapphire with classmates?
- Sapphire will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sapphire
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jazlynn#1057 · Liyana#1059 · Dua#1060 · Giavanna#1060 · Maelynn#1053 · Jubilee#1053 · Kai#1053 · Melani#1053
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sapphire? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sapphire 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