Find out how popular the first name Sunday has been for the last 50 years (from 1974 to 2023) and learn more about the meaning and history.

Popularity of Sunday by gender

Based on the last 50 years of data, Sunday is more commonly used as a female name, with approximately 96% of people named Sunday being female.

For the most recent data in 2023, there were 178 female babies and 10 male babies born with the name Sunday.

Yes—according to the SSA data, 10 baby boys were named Sunday in 2023, despite it being a predominantly female name. We'd love to know why!

The history of the first name Sunday

The name Sunday is a modern English name derived from the day of the week, Sunday. Its origins can be traced back to Old English and Proto-Germanic languages. The name likely emerged as a nickname or a reference to a person born or baptized on that particular day of the week.

The word "Sunday" itself has its roots in the ancient Roman tradition of naming the days after celestial bodies. Sunday was originally known as "dies Solis" or "the day of the Sun" in Latin. This naming convention was adopted by the Germanic peoples, who referred to it as "Sunnun-dæg," meaning "Sun's day."

Historically, the name Sunday does not appear to have been widely used as a given name until relatively recent times. However, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name throughout history:

1. Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye (1942-2002), a Nigerian military officer and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the late 1990s.

2. Sunday Bada (born 1969), a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker for various clubs in Nigeria and Europe.

3. Sunday Oliseh (born 1974), a former Nigerian professional footballer and current manager. He played as a defensive midfielder for clubs like Ajax Amsterdam and Borussia Dortmund.

4. Sunday Ogorchukwu (born 1982), a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker for clubs in Nigeria, South Africa, and Israel.

5. Sunday Sando (born 1988), a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for various clubs in Nigeria and Europe.

While the name Sunday may have been used sporadically throughout history, its popularity as a given name seems to have increased in recent decades, particularly in certain cultural contexts. However, due to its unique and unconventional nature, it remains a relatively uncommon name compared to more traditional names.

Data source

The first name data used on this page comes from the Social Security Administration (SSA). They've been collecting data on baby names since 1880.

The history and meaning of the name Sunday was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Sunday, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!