girl's name
Savannah
sa-VAN-a
- Origin Taino
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 212,575
the United States
#135
2025 births
Savannah is a girl's name of Taino origin meaning "treeless plain." It reached English through Spanish from a Caribbean language, and is one of very few common English names borrowed from an indigenous American tongue.
- Savannah is a name of Taino origin.
- Peaked in 2000, when 7,112 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,549 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Savannah over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 285 |
| 1890s | 379 |
| 1900s | 445 |
| 1910s | 642 |
| 1920s | 681 |
| 1930s | 429 |
| 1940s | 392 |
| 1950s | 326 |
| 1960s | 170 |
| 1970s | 232 |
| 1980s | 8,746 |
| 1990s | 44,755 |
| 2000s | 64,867 |
| 2010s | 51,895 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 17,492 |
What Savannah means
Savannah means an open grassland without trees. The word describes a specific landscape type, and the name carries the American South's associations rather than the geography's.
Where Savannah comes from
Savannah comes from the Taino zabana, a treeless plain, recorded by Spanish colonists in the Caribbean as sabana and borrowed into English by the sixteenth century. Taino was the language of the Arawak peoples of the Greater Antilles, and it gave English several other everyday words including hurricane, canoe, hammock, barbecue and tobacco. The Georgia city of Savannah, founded 1733, took its name from the river, and the name's use for girls is American and largely twentieth-century.
Savannah in use
Our data shows Savannah falling, peaking in 2000, and it first appears in our records in 1880. It is one of the very few names on this site to come from an indigenous American language — a category almost absent from English naming despite the size of the vocabulary English borrowed.
How popular is Savannah?
In 2025, Savannah was given to 2,141 babies in the United States, ranking #135 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Savannah is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Savannah
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Savannah also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Savannah over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Savannah
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Savannah in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Savannah
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Savannah — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Savannah
What does the name Savannah mean?
Savannah means "treeless plain," from the Taino zabana by way of Spanish.
What language does Savannah come from?
Taino, an Arawak language of the Caribbean, which also gave English hurricane, canoe, hammock and barbecue.
Is Savannah named after the city?
The city took its name from the river. The name's use for girls is separate and largely twentieth-century.
How popular is the name Savannah?
In 2025, Savannah was given to 2,141 babies in the United States, ranking #135 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Savannah a girl's or a boy's name?
Savannah is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Savannah?
Savannah has 3 syllables.
When was Savannah most popular?
Savannah peaked in 2000, when 7,112 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Savannah?
Savannah is usually shortened to Vanna, Anna and Savvy.
Is Savannah a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Savannah currently ranks #135 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.