Sundus
An Arabic feminine name meaning "soft and smooth".
Name Census estimates that about 605 living Americans carry the first name Sundus. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sundus today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sundus births was 2017 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sundus. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sundus with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
605
~ 1 in 566,536 Americans
Peak year
2017
36 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,268
Tracked since 1991
Census
Sundus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 931 people with the first name Sundus, which placed it at #13,100 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
#13,100
National first-name rank
People counted
931
931 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sundus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sundus is Black at 43.7%. The next largest groups are White (38.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.6%). 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 Sundus 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 Sundus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.7% · 407
- White38.9% · 362
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.6% · 127
- Two or more races3.0% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Sundus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sundus from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 272 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sundus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sundus 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 Sundus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sundus' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sundus
The name Sundus has its roots in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "sundus," which means "silk" or "fine cloth." Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Middle Eastern region, where the silk trade flourished and played a significant role in the cultural and economic fabric of the region.
The name's connection to silk suggests an association with elegance, luxury, and refinement. In the Arabic tradition, names often carry symbolic meanings or reflect desirable qualities, and the name Sundus evokes images of softness, beauty, and grace.
While the exact origin and first recorded use of the name Sundus remain uncertain, it has been present in Arabic literature and historical records for centuries. Some scholars believe that the name may have been mentioned in ancient Arabic poetry, which celebrated the beauty and elegance of silk garments.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Sundus was Sundus bint al-Husayn, a renowned Arab poet who lived in the 7th century CE. Her poetry, which explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition, is still studied and celebrated today.
Another notable figure bearing the name Sundus was Sundus al-Ghadbaniya, a 9th-century Arab poet and musician from Baghdad. She was known for her skill in composing intricate verses and her mastery of the lute, contributing significantly to the cultural renaissance of the Abbasid era.
In the 12th century, Sundus bint Ahmad al-Baghdadi, a scholar and writer, gained recognition for her works on Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the intellectual discourse of her time.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Sundus was associated with Sundus Hanım, a prominent figure in the imperial harem in the 16th century. She was known for her influential role in the palace and her patronage of the arts and literature.
More recently, Sundus Abd al-Aziz, a Palestinian journalist and writer born in 1950, has gained recognition for her work in promoting human rights and advocating for Palestinian causes through her writing and activism.
While these are just a few examples, the name Sundus has been carried by countless individuals throughout history, each leaving their unique mark and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultures and societies across the Middle Eastern region and beyond.
People
Sundus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sundus 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
Sundus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sundus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 605 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sundus 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 566,536 US residents.
Is Sundus a common name?
We classify Sundus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 612 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sundus most popular?
The single biggest year for Sundus was 2017, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sundus is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sundus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 931 people with the name Sundus, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,100 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 Sundus 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 Sundus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sundus appears almost entirely female. Of the 929 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Sundus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sundus is Black at 43.7%. The next largest groups are White (38.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.6%). 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 Sundus most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sundus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.7% (407 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 Sundus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sundus a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sundus 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 Sundus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sundus 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 Sundus 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 have the name Sundus?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.