Sunda
A unisex name of Sanskrit origin meaning "beautiful" or "charming".
Name Census estimates that about 23 living Americans carry the first name Sunda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sunda today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sunda births was 1942 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sunda. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sunda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
23
~ 1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Peak year
1942
7 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1993 SSA rank
#15,499
Tracked since 1921
Census
Sunda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 113 people with the first name Sunda, which placed it at #51,508 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
#51,508
National first-name rank
People counted
113
113 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sunda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sunda is White at 58.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.2%). 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 Sunda 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 Sunda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.4% · 66
- Black or African American21.2% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.2% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 3
- Two or more races2.7% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Popularity
Sunda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sunda from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Sunda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sunda 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 Sunda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sunda
The name Sunda has its origins in the Indonesian archipelago, specifically the islands of Java and Sumatra. It is derived from the Sundanese language, spoken by the Sundanese people of West Java. The name's roots can be traced back to the 7th century CE when the Sundanese Kingdom of Tarumanagara flourished in the region.
In ancient Sundanese culture, the name Sunda was often associated with the mythical figure of Sunda Upas, a character from the Sundanese creation story. This figure was believed to have played a pivotal role in the formation of the islands and the establishment of the Sundanese people.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Sunda can be found in the Nagarakrtagama, a 14th-century epic poem written during the Majapahit Empire. The poem refers to the island of Java as Nusa Sunda, highlighting the name's historical significance.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sunda. One such individual was Sunda Kelapa (1334-1389), a legendary prince and ruler of the Kingdom of Sunda Kelapa, which later became the city of Jakarta. Another prominent figure was Sunda Mahendra (1512-1580), a revered Sundanese philosopher and poet who contributed significantly to the region's literary and cultural heritage.
In the 16th century, the name Sunda gained recognition through the writings of Portuguese explorer Tomé Pires, who documented the Sundanese people and their culture in his book "Suma Oriental." This work provided valuable insights into the region's history and traditions.
Another notable figure was Sunda Ningrat (1671-1738), a renowned Sundanese military leader and strategist who played a crucial role in defending the region against Dutch colonization efforts during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Sunda Kalapa (1822-1897) was a prominent Sundanese scholar and educator who dedicated his life to preserving and promoting the Sundanese language and culture. His works on Sundanese literature and grammar remain influential to this day.
Finally, Sunda Wiwitan (1901-1976) was a respected Sundanese spiritual leader and philosopher who played a significant role in reviving and promoting the traditional Sundanese belief system known as Sunda Wiwitan, which emphasizes harmony with nature and ancestral veneration.
People
Sunda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sunda 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
Sunda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sunda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sunda 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 14,902,363 US residents.
Is Sunda a common name?
We classify Sunda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 42.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 40 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sunda most popular?
The single biggest year for Sunda was 1942, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sunda is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sunda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 113 people with the name Sunda, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,508 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 Sunda 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 Sunda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sunda leans strongly female. 97 people counted with this name were female (85.8%), compared with 16 male bearers (14.2%). 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 Sunda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sunda is White at 58.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.2%). 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 Sunda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sunda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.4% (66 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 Sunda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sunda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sunda 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 Sunda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sunda 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 Sunda 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 common is the name Sunda?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Sunda at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.