Name of the Week

Homely, soft Sarah is eternally enduring
and arguably one of the most successful girls'
names in British history.

 

Origin:

In the first book of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis, Sarai is the wife of Abram. In Genesis 17, God comes to Abram and makes his covenant with him, changing Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah. The Bible explains the shift from Abram to Abraham — the first means "exalted father," the second means "father of nations" — but there is no explanation for why Sarai became Sarah, as both names derive from the same Hebrew route: sarar "to rule," "to hold authority." The term sarah itself seems to have been more specifically a title used for royal women; the feminine form of sar, a title meaning "lord, prince, chieftain, chief, ruler, commander, leader." Noble lady, queen and mistress would all be appropriate translations. The most common translation of Sarah that has prevailed, however, is "princess." Greek translations of the Bible used the form Sarra, which became Sara in Latin. In other some languages Sara also has meaning. In Kazakhstan, Sara is a feminine name meaning "yellow" and symbolic of the sun, and in Sanskrit, Sara means "power, energy, strength."

Usage: and Sara

The Latin form Sara and Greek Sarra came into use in Britain from the twelfth century as the influence of the Church increased throughout Western Europe. Sara was one of the many Biblical names such as Michael, Joseph, Paul and Eve which were added to the pool of British nomenclature at that time. According to Redmonds' poll of names from ten counties in 1377-81, Sara ranked #20 with 78 instances, making it "quite popular." During this time, Sara, Sare, Sarra and Sarre also came into use as surnames.  The spelling Sarah was revived in 16th century and was used interchangeably with Sara and Sarra. It continued to be used popularly, as can be seen in my most popular Elizabethan names of Norfolk, where Sarah ranks #15 overall, and in Smith Bannister frequency tables from 1538-1700: 1550-9: #43; 1560-9: #40; 1570-9: #16; 1580-9: #15; 1590-9: #14; 1600-9: #15; 1610-9: #13; 1620-9: #12; 1630-9: #7; 1640-9: #7; 1650-9: #6; 1660-9: #4; 1670-9: #4; 1689-9: #4; 1690-1700: #4. In much the same way as Mary became Mally (later Molly), from an early period, Sally was an established diminutive of Sarah. Another diminutive, Sadie, came later in the late 18th century.  In Ireland, Sarah was used to render both Sadb and Sorcha into English. For such a long period, Sarah never seemed to tire. Perhaps it was thanks to its being borne by a prominent and revered woman in the Bible (one of the four Hebrew matriarchs), but also it was considered to be a homely, honest name — "stately and neat."  Dunkling ranks Sarah at #4 in both 1700 and 1800 and #3 in 1850 and 1875. It was still #4 in 1880, #8 in 1890 and #13 in 1900.  According to data from the 1881 UK census, Sarah was the 9th most common name (both male and female) and Sara the 371th. When the records are standardised to every 100,000 people, we can see that Sarah was pretty well evenly distributed across Britain, with the exception of Northern Scotland. Remarkably, Sarah can boast being one of the very few names to consistently be in the Top 100 in every decade from 1800-2010. Though there are several boys' names eligible, the only other girls' name that can claim the same is Elizabeth, which overall has had slightly higher ranks, dubbing Sarah as the second most successful British girls' name of all time. From ranking #21 in England and Wales in 1904, Sarah declined to its lowest point of #86 in 1944. It inclined rapidly after that, claiming the #1 spot in both 1974 and 1984. Sara followed Sarah's success, joining the top 100 from 1964 to 1994. In Scotland, Sarah ranked #14 in 1900, #34 in 1950 and #20 in 1975. Sara did not rank at all. Perhaps the reason the spelling Sarah lagged behind was due to its pronunciation issues. Though Sara is a variant spelling of Sarah (SAIR-a), thanks to its similarity to Cara, Mara, Tara, Lara and Zara, from the 20th century, Sara has in many cases been pronounced SAHR-a.  Since ranking #18 in 1996, Sarah has been steadily declining in England and Wales. Sara, however, is marginally rising. In 2013, Sarah ranked #96 and Sara ranked #100. Similarly, in Scotland, Sarah has also been on a decline in recent years, though not so starkly. From ranking #22 in 2005 it has gradually declined to #61 in 2013, with Sara ranking at #107. Sarah is currently most popular in Northern Ireland where it ranked #7 in 1997, #8 in 2003, #7 in 2007 and #29 in 2013.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660–1744), confidante of Queen Anne. * Sarah Kemble Siddons (1755–1831), British actress. * Sarah Wentworth Morton (1759–1846), American author. * Sarah Moore Grimké (1792–1873), American abolitionist and advocate of women's rights. * Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923), stage name of Rosine Bernard, a French actress. * Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), American poet. * Sarah Vaughan (1924–1990), American jazz singer. Contemporary: * Sara Lidman (b.1923), Swedish writer. * Sarah, Duchess of York (b.1959), former wife of Prince Andrew. * Sarah Jessica Parker (b.1965), American actress. * Sarah Millican (b.1975), British comedian. * Sarah Michelle Gellar (b.1977), American actress. Literature and Other Media: * Sarah, Plain and Tall, a children's book written by Patricia MacLachlan * Sarah Jane Smith, companion of"Doctor Who", played by Elisabeth Sladen. * Sarah Connor, a character in "The Terminator", played by Linda Hamilton. * Sarah Manning, main character in sci-fi thriller "Orphan Black."

Variants:

Sara, Sarai (Biblical), Kala (Hawaiian), Sára, Sári, Sárika (Hungarian), Sarita (Spanish), Sassa (Swedish), Suri (Yiddish)

Pronunciation:

SAIR-ə [key]

Possible  Diminutives:

Sally, Sadie

Sibling Names:

Charlotte     Emma     Lucy     Grace     Julia     Anna  Alexander     Daniel    James     Andrew    Thomas    George

Name Lists:

Popular Biblical   Medieval Favourites   Terrifically Tudor   Gorgeously Georgian   Names from Jane Austen   Names from Dickens   Names from the Brontes   Names of Roses

 

If you like Sarah you may also like:  Lydia, Clara, Eliza, Louise, Hannah, Rachel, Laura, Martha, Leah, Harriet

 

Thanks to Mabel for requesting this post. 

Completely coincidentally, this post coincides with Abby's post about Sarah over at Appellation Mountain this week. I would recommend giving it a read for more information about Sarah state-side.