Sundee
A feminine name derived from the word "Sunday", suggesting a cheerful or sunny disposition.
Name Census estimates that about 245 living Americans carry the first name Sundee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sundee today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sundee births was 1968 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sundee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
245
~ 1 in 1,398,997 Americans
Peak year
1968
23 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1985 SSA rank
#8,227
Tracked since 1951
Census
Sundee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 303 people with the first name Sundee, which placed it at #29,290 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,290
National first-name rank
People counted
303
303 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sundee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sundee is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and Black (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sundee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sundee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.2% · 243
- Two or more races6.3% · 19
- Black or African American5.6% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 11
Popularity
Sundee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sundee from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 119 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sundee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sundee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sundees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sundee
The name Sundee has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was the classical language of ancient India and the liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "sundara," which means "beautiful" or "handsome." This suggests that the name was originally given to children as a blessing or wish for their beauty and attractiveness.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, there are references to the concept of beauty and its connection to the divine. The name Sundee may have been used to honor this spiritual aspect of beauty, as well as the physical aspect. However, there are no specific historical records or ancient texts that directly mention the name Sundee.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Sundee can be traced back to the medieval period in India, particularly in regions where Sanskrit was widely used. One notable figure who bore this name was Sundee Devi, a Hindu princess and poet who lived in the 16th century. She is known for her contributions to the Bhakti movement, a spiritual renaissance that emphasized devotional worship and love for the divine.
Another historical figure named Sundee was Sundee Maharaj, a renowned Sufi mystic and spiritual teacher who lived in the 17th century. He was highly respected for his wisdom and teachings on the path to enlightenment, and his followers established a spiritual order known as the Sundee Silsila.
In the 19th century, Sundee Lal was a prominent Indian social reformer and educator who worked tirelessly to promote education and emancipation for women in British India. He established several schools and advocated for the rights of women and the underprivileged.
Moving to more recent times, Sundee Mandava was an Indian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur who co-founded the software company Trigo Technologies in the late 20th century. She was recognized for her contributions to the field of artificial intelligence and her efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.
It is worth noting that while the name Sundee has its roots in Sanskrit and Indian culture, it has also gained popularity in various other parts of the world, particularly among communities influenced by Indian diaspora or those who appreciate the name's meaning and connection to beauty and spirituality.
People
Sundee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sundee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sundee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sundee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 245 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sundee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,398,997 US residents.
Is Sundee a common name?
We classify Sundee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 282 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sundee most popular?
The single biggest year for Sundee was 1968, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sundee is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sundee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 303 people with the name Sundee, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,290 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sundee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sundee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sundee leans strongly female. 297 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 5 male bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sundee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sundee is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and Black (5.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sundee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sundee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (243 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sundee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sundee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sundee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sundee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sundee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sundee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Sundee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.