Sunny
A feminine English name derived from the word "sun", meaning bright or radiant.
Name Census estimates that about 15,171 living Americans carry the first name Sunny. It sits at #372 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Sunny today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sunny births was 2024 (1,047 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sunny. 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 Sunny with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,593 Americans
Peak year
2024
1,047 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#372
Tracked since 1900
Census
Sunny in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 16,124 people with the first name Sunny, which placed it at #1,821 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
#1,821
National first-name rank
People counted
16K
16,124 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sunny
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sunny is White at 43.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (38.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Sunny 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 Sunny at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.6% · 7,029
- Asian and Pacific Islander38.1% · 6,148
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 1,292
- Black or African American4.5% · 730
- Two or more races4.2% · 680
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 245
Gender
Gender distribution for Sunny
Sunny is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 16,681 total registrations, 4,302 (25.8%) were male and 12,379 (74.2%) were female.
Sunny as a male name
- Ranked #1,049 in 2024
- 210 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (210 births)
Sunny as a female name
- Ranked #372 in 2024
- 837 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (837 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sunny on both sides of the split. Of the 16,117 people counted with this name, 5,439 were male (33.7%) and 10,678 were female (66.3%).
Popularity
Sunny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sunny from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 3,825 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sunny 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 Sunny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sunnys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Sunny, while Wyoming, South Dakota, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 218 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sunny
The name Sunny originates from the English language and is derived from the word "sun," which refers to the star at the center of our solar system. It is a relatively modern name, gaining popularity in the 20th century.
The use of Sunny as a given name can be traced back to the late 19th century, when it was occasionally used as a nickname or pet name for individuals with sunny dispositions or bright personalities. It was not until the mid-20th century that Sunny began to be used more widely as a standalone given name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Sunny was Sunny Von Bulow, born Annie Laurie Jetty Auersperg Knaufft in 1932. She gained notoriety in the 1980s due to a highly publicized legal case involving her husband, Claus Von Bulow, who was accused of attempting to murder her.
Another notable Sunny from history was Sunny Baker, an American actress born in 1913. She appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career, which spanned from the 1930s to the 1970s.
In the realm of sports, Sunny Bono, born Salvatore Phillip Aurienza in 1935, was a successful singer, actor, and politician. He was half of the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher and later served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Sunny Day, born Sarah Vaughan in 1924, was an influential American jazz singer and one of the leading vocalists of the bebop era. She was renowned for her exceptional vocal range and innovative interpretations of popular songs.
Sunny Lane, born Karen Malou Tomlinson in 1980, is a former adult film actress and model who achieved fame and recognition in the adult entertainment industry during the early 2000s.
While the name Sunny is relatively modern, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions due to its association with warmth, positivity, and a radiant personality. The name's connection to the sun and its life-giving properties has contributed to its enduring appeal.
People
Sunny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sunny 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
Sunny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sunny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,171 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sunny 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 22,593 US residents.
Is Sunny a common name?
We classify Sunny as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,681 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sunny most popular?
The single biggest year for Sunny was 2024, when 1,047 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sunny is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sunny in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 16,124 people with the name Sunny, or 5.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,821 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 Sunny 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 Sunny?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sunny on both sides of the split. Of the 16,117 people counted with this name, 5,439 were male (33.7%) and 10,678 were female (66.3%). 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 Sunny?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sunny is White at 43.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (38.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Sunny most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sunny in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.6% (7,029 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 Sunny in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sunny a female name?
Yes, 74.2% of people registered as Sunny 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 Sunny still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sunny 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 Sunny 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 Sunny?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Sunny, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.