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    The surname Sagan

    A surname, carried by 1,193 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈseɪɡən/ 2 syllables Soundex S250

    Sagan: #21,790 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Sagan #21,790, 1,193 people Sagan: #21,790 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Sagan #21,790, 1,193 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Sagan is more common than 86.6% of them.

    Origin

    The unit is derived from the phrase "billions and billions (of stars)", erroneously attributed to the American astronomer Carl Sagan. The lower bound of such a number must be two billion plus two billion, or four billion. Johnny Carson popularized the phrase through his occasional impersonation of Sagan throughout his career.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 1,193 people named Sagan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 258,798 Americans. That is up 4.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,144.

    #21,790
    rank among US surnames
    1,193
    people in 2010
    0.4
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4.3%
    change since 2000 (was #21,335)

    Who is named Sagan

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    95% of people named Sagan identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

    • White (not Hispanic) 95%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3%
    • Two or more races 0.8%
    The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Native American are not shown.

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Sagans

    5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Carl Sagan
      American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934–1996)
    • Leontine Sagan
      Austrian-Hungarian stage and film director, 1889–1974
    • Nick Sagan
      American writer, born 1970
    • Linda Salzman Sagan
      American artist and writer (1940–2023)
    • Jeanne Sagan
      American musician, born 1979

    Notable Sagans come mostly from the United States (4) and South Africa (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Sagan

    Sagan has the Soundex code S250, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S250.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Sagan come from?
    The unit is derived from the phrase "billions and billions (of stars)", erroneously attributed to the American astronomer Carl Sagan. The lower bound of such a number must be two billion plus two billion, or four billion. Johnny Carson popularized the phrase through his occasional impersonation of…
    How common is the surname Sagan?
    1,193 people in the United States had the surname Sagan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 258,798 Americans. It ranked 21,790th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Sagan?
    In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Sagan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
    Who is the most famous person named Sagan?
    Carl Sagan, American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934–1996), followed by Leontine Sagan.
    Where is the surname Sagan most common?
    Wikidata records people named Sagan in the United States and South Africa.
    How do you pronounce Sagan?
    Sagan is /ˈseɪɡən/, 2 syllables.
    Is the surname Sagan getting more or less common?
    More common. 1,144 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,193 in 2010, up 4.3%.