Sarai
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Meaning
traditionally "my princess"; Sarah's name before Genesis 17
The story
Sarai is Sarah before the announcement. In Genesis, God changes her name while the promised son is still a promise. The child has yet to arrive, but the story already addresses her differently. That small distinction gives Sarai an emotional starting point of its own, even though both names belong to the same biblical woman. The Hebrew name is traditionally understood as "my princess"; biblical commentary also treats Sarai and Sarah as variants meaning "princess." The change of name comes with the promise of a future she cannot yet see. Sarah is how the story continues. Sarai keeps the earlier chapter audible, the person before the famous future. A short name, but one that leaves room for the part of a life that happens before anyone knows how the story will end.
Sarai's name family
One shared root links 5 names across 2 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew sarah "princess", the matriarch renamed from Sarai
The family
More branches
How popular is Sarai around the world?
In the United States, 4,256 babies were named Sarai between 2020 and 2025. In Mexico City, there were 88 registrations of Sarai in 2022.
Sarai is on the official records of the United States, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Chile, Spain, England and Wales, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,100
In the United States, 4,256 babies were named Sarai between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Sarai peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Mexico City City
1 in 1,300
In Mexico City, there were 88 registrations of Sarai in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (9 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Argentina
1 in 1,400
In Argentina, 489 newborns were given the name Sarai in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Puerto Rico
1 in 1,800
In Puerto Rico, 10 babies were named Sarai in 2025, and 254 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Chile
1 in 2,500
In Chile, 70 girls were registered as Sarai in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Spain
1 in 8,700
In Spain, 5,166 residents are named Sarai, the 453rd most common name among women, with a mean age of 31.7 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
England and Wales
1 in 29,000
In England and Wales, 20 girls named Sarai were born in 2025, ranked 1,512th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 33,000
In Canada, 11 girls named Sarai were born in 2024, ranked 1,968th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Brazil
1 in 250,000
At the 2022 census, 841 people in Brazil were named Sarai, ranked 9,321st, with a median age of 26.
Among people named Sarai living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 131 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Austria
last on record 2024
Sarai is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Montevideo City
last on record 2010
Sarai is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New Zealand
last on record 2018
Sarai is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
last on record 2011
Sarai is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Ireland, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Sarai
Most people given the name Sarai in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Sarai deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Sarai truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Sarai fits with your family’s names and surname.
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