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Sabrina

♀ Girl

Pronounced sah-BREE-nah /səˈbriː.nə/High

Meaning: Latinized form of the Celtic name of the River Severn in Britain. The precise Celtic meaning is uncertain; ancient legend associates the name with a drowned princess.High

In 30 seconds: Sabrina is a name straight out of Celtic legend — a princess said to have drowned in the River Severn, which was renamed in her honor. Mystical, melodic, and timelessly feminine.
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Origin HighCeltic, Latin
MeaningLatinized form of the Celtic name of the River Severn in Britain. The precise Celtic meaning is uncertain; ancient legend associates the name with a drowned princess.
U.S. rank (2025)#321 ↗ Rising
2025 U.S. births956 girls (0.05% of U.S. girls)
Peak year1997
Total births (all-time)≈ 142,589

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 199719162025

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

History & Origin

The name Sabrina comes from Sabrina, the Latin name for the River Severn in Britain, which derived from a Brythonic Celtic toponym. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136), Sabrina was the daughter of King Locrine and his mistress Estrildis; when Locrine's wife Gwendolen defeated him in battle, she had Sabrina and her mother drowned in the river, which was then named after the girl.

The name gained literary prestige through John Milton's Comus (1634), where Sabrina is a water nymph with healing powers. It became a popular given name in the English-speaking world, boosted in the twentieth century by the film Sabrina (1954) starring Audrey Hepburn, the long-running comic character Sabrina the Teenage Witch (debuted 1962), and various television adaptations. The name has maintained steady popularity for generations.

Did you know? Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century Historia Regum Britanniae records Sabrina as a princess drowned in the River Severn, and her story was later retold by John Milton in his masque Comus (1634) — giving the name one of the longest continuous literary histories in English.
Overall data confidence 87%
Geoffrey of Monmouth. Historia Regum Britanniae — Original mythological account of Princess SabrinaOxford Dictionary of First Names — Etymology and literary history

Variations

ZabrinaSevrina

Nicknames

BreeBrinaSab

Famous Bearers

  • ★Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn film character) (1954)
    Lead character in Billy Wilder's film Sabrina, played by Audrey Hepburn, boosting the name's popularity.

If you like Sabrina…

Seraphina— three-syllable melodic feminine name with mythological and celestial resonance
Serena— three-syllable melodic name with Latin roots and similar flowing femininity
Marina— three-syllable water-associated feminine name with Latin and Celtic roots

Frequently Asked

What does the name Sabrina mean?

Sabrina is the Latin name for the River Severn in Britain, associated with a legendary drowned princess whose story gave the river its name.

How do you pronounce Sabrina?

Sabrina is pronounced sah-BREE-nah (/səˈbriː.nə/), three syllables with stress on the second.

Is Sabrina a boy or girl name?

Sabrina is exclusively a girl's name with a strong feminine mythological tradition.

How popular is Sabrina?

Sabrina has ranked in the US top 200 girls' names for decades, boosted by the teenage witch character and various film adaptations.