Sun
Feminine · “grandson”
Sun is given to both — 503 girls and 504 boys since 1880. See Sun as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Sun is three letters doing work in three languages. In English it is the star. In Korean it is one of the commonest elements in a personal name, appearing at the front or the back of a great many of them. In Chinese it is one of the most widespread family names in the world, and it means grandson.
How old is the name Sun?
Sun first appears in US birth records in 1939 — 86 years ago. The typical Sun alive today was born around 1980, making them about 45 years old. About 500 people named Sun are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sun most popular?
Sun peaked in 1960, reaching #3212 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 11,730 places below that high. See the whole 1960 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Sun
East Asian names lose a great deal in the crossing. Korean given names are usually two syllables, each written with a character chosen for its meaning, and romanizing them into English drops both the characters and the tones that distinguish them; a whole set of different Korean elements come out as Sun. The Chinese surname is a separate matter and arrives in American records as a surname used as a given name, or as a given name in its own right. English speakers meanwhile read the three letters as the star, which is the one thing none of the other traditions meant.
Meaningscholars disagree
grandson; descendant
The Chinese surname written Sun means a grandson or a descendant, and it is among the most common family names in China. Korean given-name elements romanized as Sun cover several different characters and mean different things — goodness, purity, and others — because Korean romanization flattens distinctions the writing system keeps. And the English word is the star, from a root shared across the Indo-European languages. Which of these applies is a family fact, and the spelling records none of it.
Pronouncing Sun
SOON
SOON is closer to the Korean and Chinese vowel than the English word is. American readers say SUN, rhyming with fun, which is the English word rather than either original. Both are heard, and which one a family uses tends to follow which language the name came from.
Nicknames for Sun
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1939
- Most girls named
- 197116 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3212reached in 1960
- Change vs 2023
- −28.6%5 in 2025, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Sun in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 孫 in Chinese — transliteration
- 선 in Korean — transliteration
- Seon in Korean — spelling variant
Suns among us
people named Sun are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Sun
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Scotty test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sun's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Scotty climbed just as high around 1940, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Scotty's path sketches the road Sun is walking now.
Sun sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Sun beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sun in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable, which fits against any surname without crowding.
- It is a working name in Korean and Chinese as well as an English word.
- It goes to boys and girls both, and none of the source traditions decides for it.
- English readers will see the star and say the English word, whichever language the name came from.
- The romanization drops the character and the distinctions it carried, so the written name is incomplete in its own language.
- A three-letter name gets treated as an abbreviation by forms and filing systems, and it will be queried.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Sun to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Sun
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Suns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Sun are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sun in 2025?
- Sun ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sun?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Sun — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sun with classmates?
- Sun will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sun
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sun? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sun and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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