Recorded 1940–2025 · United States
Sierra was most popular in 1998, when 5,853 American babies were given the name — ranking #118 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,211, with 476 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 100,866 people named Sierra.
Sierra first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1940, which makes it about 85 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 82 of the 86 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 100,866 American births named Sierra between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 99,389 are estimated to be alive today.
476 American babies were named Sierra in 2025, ranking #1,211 that year.
Sierra is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 535 births a year, against 1,003 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -47% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Sierra is a girl’s name — 99.7% of the 100,866 Americans given it were girls and 0.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 99,389 Americans named Sierra are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 27 years old, and half are between 22 and 31. That is a narrow band: Sierra arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Sierra on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org