Sera
Feminine
Sera is a short form with several possible parents and a life of its own. It clips Serafina and Serena; it is a spelling of Sarah in some traditions; and in Italian it is the ordinary word for evening. Its American peak is 1997, and the record cannot tell those routes apart.
How old is the name Sera?
Sera first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Sera alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 1,600 people named Sera are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sera most popular?
Sera peaked in 1997, reaching #1914 nationally. Today it ranks #5917, 4,003 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Serafina to Sera
Our story of Sera
Short names sit at the intersection of longer ones, and that is a feature rather than a problem. A four-letter name like Sera is reachable from Serafina, Serena, Sarah and Seraphina by simple clipping, and from Italian by no clipping at all; every one of those routes produces the same word, and a family can hold whichever it likes. What that means practically is that a bearer never has to defend a single etymology, and can answer the meaning question with whichever of four pleasant options fits the moment — burning one, serene one, princess, evening. Names with a single ironclad derivation cannot do that. It is a small freedom and it belongs specifically to short names in languages with a lot of contact, which is to say to a great many modern American names.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Several candidate sources. Serafina descends from Hebrew saraph, 'to burn', through the seraphim. Serena is Latin serenus, 'calm, clear'. Sarah is Hebrew for a princess or noblewoman. Italian sera, 'evening', comes from Latin sero, 'late'. Each supplies a different meaning and none is documented for the American name. A bearer can accurately say the name is short, that its parent is a family matter, and that the possibilities are all pleasant.
How the name formed
- Serafina
- Sera
Related forms: Sera · Sarah · Serena
Pronouncing Sera
SEH-rah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a short e. A second saying, SEE-rah, is also common in American use and follows the English reading of the letters. Italian uses the short e.
Nicknames for Sera
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
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 199776 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1914reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- +100.0%20 in 2025, from 10
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.
Sera in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sera in Italian — same name
- Sarah in English — related form
- Serena in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York.
Seras among us
people named Sera are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 80,363 born in 2025 was named Sera
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Sera
- #5917
- Sera on the 2025 chart
- #900
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Sera went to 20 girls in 2025, but Serah, Serra and Cera and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 60, which makes it the 900th most-given girls’ name of the year — 5,017 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 26,788 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 80,363 for Sera itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Joya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sera's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Joya climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Joya's path sketches the road Sera is walking now.
Sera 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
Sera beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sera in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, two syllables, and spellable by anyone who hears it.
- Serafina, Serena and Sarah are all available as longer forms if one is wanted.
- It is soft and easy in English, Italian and Spanish alike.
- Two vowel readings circulate for the first syllable.
- It is close to Sarah, Ciara and Sierra and will be misheard.
- There is no single documented meaning, because there is no single parent.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Sera
Feminine · #5917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Seras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Sera are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Sera?
- Sera is the most-used spelling in US records — 20 of the 60 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Serah, Serra, Cera and Seera.
- How popular is the name Sera in 2025?
- Sera ranks #5917 among US girl names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sera?
- About 1 in every 80,363 US girls born in 2025 was named Sera — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sera with classmates?
- Sera will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sera
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elda#5917 · Saloma#5917 · Fawn#5917 · Sarafina#5917 · Jaymie#5917 · Jania#5917 · Kimberlynn#5917 · Patsy#5917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sera? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sera and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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