Sayuri
Feminine · “small lily”
Sayuri is a small lily in Japanese — sa-yuri — and the sa- prefix is an old poetic intensifier with no meaning of its own.
How old is the name Sayuri?
Sayuri first appears in US birth records in 1979 — 46 years ago. The typical Sayuri alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 1,400 people named Sayuri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sayuri most popular?
Sayuri peaked in 2007, reaching #1940 nationally. Today it ranks #2368, 428 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From yuri to Sayuri
The story of Sayuri
Japanese poetry uses sa- as a decorative prefix inherited from classical usage, and sayuri is one of the words that kept it. A 1997 novel and its 2005 film made the name internationally familiar. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
small lily
From the Japanese sayuri, 小百合 — yuri, 'lily', with the prefix sa-, an old poetic element that adds emphasis or delicacy rather than a meaning. The kanji chosen fix the reading. The Japanese is documented.
How the name formed
- yuri
- sayuri
- Sayuri
Related forms: 小百合 · さゆり
Pronouncing Sayuri
sah-YOO-ree
Three syllables, even weight. Japanese gives each mora equal value rather than stressing one.
Nicknames for Sayuri
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
- 1979
- Most girls named
- 2007106 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1940reached in 2007
- Change vs 2024
- +85.4%76 in 2025, from 41
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.
Sayuri in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 小百合 in Japanese — transliteration
- さゆり in Japanese — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Sayuris among us
people named Sayuri are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 21,148 born in 2025 was named Sayuri
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 Manya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sayuri's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Manya climbed just as high around 1955, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Manya's path sketches the road Sayuri is walking now.
Sayuri 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 Sayuri is headed
Sayuri 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.
Sayuri beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sayuri in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That sa- is a decorative poetic prefix with no meaning is a first-rate detail.
- The lily meaning is concrete and beautiful.
- Yuri is available as a short form that is a real Japanese name.
- One novel and film dominate the Western association.
- The meaning depends on characters the Latin alphabet cannot show.
- English speakers apply a stress pattern Japanese does not have.
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What they receive
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Sayuri
Feminine · #2368 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sayuris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Sayuri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sayuri in 2025?
- Sayuri ranks #2368 among US girl names in 2025, with 76 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sayuri?
- About 1 in every 21,148 US girls born in 2025 was named Sayuri — 76 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sayuri with classmates?
- Sayuri will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sayuri
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eevee#2368 · Sinai#2368 · Jaziyah#2368 · Mariama#2368 · Lela#2368 · Weslynn#2368 · Taya#2368 · Roya#2368
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sayuri? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sayuri and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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