Sultan
A masculine name of Turkish and Arabic origin meaning "sovereign ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 2,195 living Americans carry the first name Sultan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sultan today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sultan births was 2024 (151 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sultan. 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.
Key insights
- • Sultan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 156,152 Americans
Peak year
2024
151 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,297
Tracked since 1966
Popularity
Sultan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sultan from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 716 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
Sultan 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 Sultan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sultans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sultan, while Georgia, Washington, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sultan
The name Sultan has its origins in the Arabic language, deriving from the root word "sulṭān" which means "authority" or "ruler." It was initially used as a title for powerful Muslim rulers and leaders, particularly those who headed the Ottoman Empire and other Islamic dynasties in the Middle East and North Africa.
The earliest recorded use of the term "Sultan" dates back to the 9th century CE, when it was employed to refer to the rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. Over time, it became a common title for Muslim sovereigns, carrying a connotation of supreme power and dominion.
One of the earliest and most notable figures to bear the title "Sultan" was Sultan Saladin (1137–1193 CE), the Kurdish Muslim ruler who founded the Ayyubid dynasty and successfully fought against the Crusaders in the 12th century. His military prowess and leadership during the Crusades earned him a prominent place in Islamic history.
Another famous Sultan was Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566 CE), who ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire reached its zenith, spanning vast territories across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Suleiman is renowned for his expansionist policies, patronage of the arts and architecture, and legal reforms.
In South Asia, the Mughal Empire was ruled by a line of Sultans and later Emperors, including Sultan Babur (1483–1530 CE), the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, and Sultan Akbar (1542–1605 CE), one of the greatest Mughal rulers known for his religious tolerance and administrative reforms.
The title "Sultan" also appeared in religious texts and scriptures, such as the Quran, where it is mentioned as a symbol of authority and power granted by God. In some Islamic traditions, the term "Sultan" was used to refer to spiritual leaders and saints, signifying their spiritual authority and influence.
Other notable figures who bore the name Sultan include Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (971–1030 CE), a Turkish ruler who established an empire in modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Sultan Mehmed II (1432–1481 CE), the Ottoman Sultan who conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire.
While the name Sultan originally held a specific regal connotation, it has since evolved to become a common given name in various parts of the world, particularly in Muslim-majority regions. However, its historical significance and association with power and authority remain deeply ingrained in its meaning and usage.
People
Sultan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sultan 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
Sultan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sultan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,195 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sultan 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 156,152 US residents.
Is Sultan a common name?
We classify Sultan as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,234 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sultan most popular?
The single biggest year for Sultan was 2024, when 151 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sultan is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sultan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sultan in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.