Sung
Of Korean origin, meaning "obey" or "illustrious, eminent."
Name Census estimates that about 477 living Americans carry the first name Sung. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Sung today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sung births was 1989 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sung. 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 Sung with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
477
~ 1 in 718,563 Americans
Peak year
1989
24 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2006 SSA rank
#13,756
Tracked since 1946
Census
Sung in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,638 people with the first name Sung, which placed it at #2,523 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
#2,523
National first-name rank
People counted
9.6K
9,638 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sung
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sung is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (0.6%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Sung 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 Sung at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.5% · 9,497
- White0.6% · 55
- Two or more races0.5% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 19
- Black or African American0.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Sung
Sung leans heavily male at 86.5% of total registrations, but 69 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sung as a male name
- Ranked #13,756 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1984 (22 births)
Sung as a female name
- Ranked #16,537 in 2011
- 6 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1971 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sung on both sides of the split. Of the 9,641 people counted with this name, 6,146 were male (63.7%) and 3,495 were female (36.3%).
Popularity
Sung: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sung from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 164 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sung 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 Sung during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sungs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Kansas, New York, California recorded the most babies named Sung, while California, New York, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sung
The name Sung has its origins in the Korean language and culture. It is a variation of the Sino-Korean word 성 (seong), which means "to become" or "to accomplish." The name can also be interpreted as "victorious" or "prosperous."
In ancient Korean history, the name Sung was often given to boys with the hope that they would become successful and accomplish great things in their lives. It was a name that carried aspirations for a prosperous and victorious future.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sung can be found in the Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient Korea (37 BCE - 935 CE). The text mentions a king named Sung Huibaek, who ruled the kingdom of Silla from 540 to 576 CE.
Throughout Korean history, several notable figures have borne the name Sung. One of the most famous was Sung Si-yeol (1607-1689), a renowned scholar and philosopher during the Joseon Dynasty. He was known for his contributions to Neo-Confucian thought and his writings on ethics and morality.
Another prominent figure was Sung Yun-bong (1835-1922), a Korean independence activist and religious leader who played a significant role in the resistance against Japanese occupation in the early 20th century.
In the field of literature, Sung Hyun (1920-1986) was a celebrated Korean novelist and short story writer, known for his works that explored the human condition and the struggles of ordinary people.
Sung Chang-hyun (1939-2008) was a renowned Korean film director and screenwriter, recognized for his contributions to the Korean New Wave cinema movement in the 1980s.
Sung Shi-kyung (born 1972) is a contemporary Korean singer-songwriter and actor, known for his soulful voice and poetic lyrics, making him one of the most popular artists in the Korean music industry.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Sung, showcasing its rich cultural significance and the diverse accomplishments associated with it.
People
Sung + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sung 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
Sung: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sung?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 477 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sung 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 718,563 US residents.
Is Sung a common name?
We classify Sung as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 513 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sung most popular?
The single biggest year for Sung was 1989, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sung is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sung in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,638 people with the name Sung, or 3.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,523 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 Sung 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 Sung?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sung on both sides of the split. Of the 9,641 people counted with this name, 6,146 were male (63.7%) and 3,495 were female (36.3%). 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 Sung?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sung is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (0.6%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Sung most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sung in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.5% (9,497 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 Sung in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sung a male name?
Yes, 86.5% of people registered as Sung 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.
Is Sung still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sung 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 Sung 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 share the name Sung?
Want to know how many Americans are named Sung? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.