Sinclair
Masculine · “Saint Clarus”
Sinclair is given to both — 1,435 boys and 477 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Sinclair is a saint's name compressed. Saint-Clair-sur-Elle in Normandy took its name from a martyr called Clarus, and the Norman family that came from it brought the place name to Scotland, where it became one of the great northern surnames. Its American peak as a given name is 1900.
How old is the name Sinclair?
Sinclair first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Sinclair alive today was born around 1956, making them about 69 years old. About 800 people named Sinclair are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sinclair most popular?
Sinclair peaked in 1900, reaching #968 nationally. Today it ranks #6143, 5,175 places below that high. See the whole 1900 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From clarus to Sinclair
The story of Sinclair
The Sinclairs came to Scotland in the twelfth century and became Earls of Caithness and, for a period, Earls of Orkney; Rosslyn Chapel, built by William Sinclair from 1446, is theirs. The surname is one of the most prominent in northern Scotland. Its use as a given name follows the ordinary American surname pattern and peaks around 1900. Upton Sinclair, whose novel The Jungle changed American food regulation in 1906, is the best-known American bearer of the surname.
Meaning
Saint Clarus; from Saint-Clair
The place name is Saint-Clair, named for Clarus, a ninth-century hermit murdered in Normandy; his name is Latin clarus, 'bright, clear, famous'. Norman families took territorial surnames, and de Saint-Clair compressed into Sinclair by the ordinary process that turned Saint-Maur into Seymour and Saint-Leger into Sallenger. The derivation is settled and the compression is well documented.
How the name formed
- clarus
- Saint-Clair
- Sinclair
Related forms: Saint-Clair · Sinclair
Pronouncing Sinclair
sin-KLAIR
Two syllables, stress at the end. The Scottish family pronunciation is often SING-kler, with front stress and a reduced second syllable, which surprises people who know only the spelling.
Nicknames for Sinclair
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
- 1900
- Most boys named
- 192923 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #968reached in 1900
- Change vs 2023
- +180.0%14 in 2025, 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.
Sinclair in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Saint-Clair in French — related form
- Sinclair in Scottish — same name
Sinclairs among us
people named Sinclair are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 122,005 born in 2025 was named Sinclair
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Sinclair 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
Sinclair beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sinclair in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and its compression from a French saint's name is easy to tell.
- Clair is a complete name available inside it as a short form.
- It has a genuinely distinguished Scottish history.
- The Scottish and English pronunciations differ noticeably.
- The first syllable collides with an ordinary English word when clipped.
- Its American curve is turn-of-the-century, which places a bearer's generation.
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Sinclair
Masculine · #6143 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sinclairs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Sinclair are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sinclair in 2025?
- Sinclair ranks #6143 among US boy names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sinclair?
- About 1 in every 122,005 US boys born in 2025 was named Sinclair — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sinclair with classmates?
- Sinclair will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sinclair
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruel#6143 · Cornell#6143 · Vasco#6143 · Kemper#6143 · Yates#6143 · Roark#6143 · Raja#6143 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sinclair? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sinclair and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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