Seaborn
Masculine · “sea warrior”
Seaborn reads as two plain English words, sea and born, and it is also an old surname with an Old English personal name behind it. In nineteenth-century Georgia it was a first name with standing: a lawyer named Seaborn Jones represented the state in Congress before the Civil War.
How old is the name Seaborn?
Seaborn first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Seaborn alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 100 people named Seaborn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Seaborn most popular?
Seaborn peaked in 1887, reaching #679 nationally. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Old English Sæbeorn to Seaborn
The story of Seaborn
Sæbeorn was an Old English man's name, and like many such names it outlived the Norman Conquest as an English family name, Seaborn or Seaborne. In America the surname became a first name early. Seaborn Jones, a Georgia lawyer, sat in the House of Representatives in the decades before the Civil War, and the name stayed in use after him. All the while it never stopped reading as ordinary English, sea and born, so the name has always carried two meanings at once: an old warrior's name to anyone who knows the history, and a birth on the water to everyone else.
Meaningscholars disagree
sea warrior, or born at sea
Two readings meet in this name. As a surname, Seaborn goes back to the Old English personal name Sæbeorn, joining sæ, 'sea', to beorn, a poetic word for a warrior or man of rank. Read as plain English, it says born at sea, and that is how nearly everyone hears it. Which reading a given family meant is not recorded.
How the name formed
- Old English Sæbeorn
- Seabornsurname
- Seabornfirst name
Pronouncing Seaborn
SEE-born
Said as the two English words sea and born, stress on the first.
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
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 191816 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #679reached in 1887
- Change vs 1978
- 0.0%5 in 1990, from 5
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.
Seaborns among us
people named Seaborn are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Seaborn sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Reads at once as plain English, so nobody stumbles over it.
- Has a real history as an Old English personal name and as an American first name.
- Two familiar syllables that are easy to spell once heard.
- Most people will hear born at sea and ask about it, which becomes a small story to tell at introductions.
- The Seaborne spelling with a final e is also common, so expect it on forms.
- Viewers of The West Wing will know Seaborn as the surname of Rob Lowe's speechwriter, Sam Seaborn; it is a friendly association.
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Seaborn
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Seaborns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Seaborn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Seaborn in 2025?
- Seaborn is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Seaborn with classmates?
- Seaborn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Steven#271 · Stephen#383 · Samuel#18 · Scott#534 · Sean#489 · Shawn#681 · Stanley#863 · Steve#1609
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Seaborn? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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