Meaning and Origin of the Name Sarah
Hebrew "princess." In the Old Testament, Sarah was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac. Sarah was a very popular English name by the 17th century. Sarah Jennings married John Churchill, later duke of Marlborough. She was a close friend of Anne Stewart, who became Queen Anne. The court was so jealous of the duchess of Marlborough and her influence on the queen that "Queen Sarah" became a common slur used against her.
In the 19th century, actress Sarah Bernhardt reigned on the stage. About 25 percent of parents giving this name use the spelling Sara. If both main spellings are counted together, Sarah has never ranked lower than 90th among American girls names, a low point that was reached in 1959. Sarah then rose swiftly to become a top-ten name in 1977. In 2005, Sarah was the 15th-most-popular girls name.
Famous names: Sarah Brightman (soprano), Sarah Jessica Parker (actress)
Variations of Sarah: Saara (Finnish and Estonian), Saartje (Dutch), Sadie, Sal, Sally, Sara, Sari (Hungarian), Sarina (Dutch), Sarita (Spanish), Sarra (Russian), Sassa (Swedish), Shari, Zadee, Zara, Zarah
See more Irish names.