Suni
A feminine given name of Hindi origin meaning "sweet" or "pretty".
Name Census estimates that about 346 living Americans carry the first name Suni. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Suni today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Suni births was 1988 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Suni. 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.
People living today
346
~ 1 in 990,619 Americans
Peak year
1988
19 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,527
Tracked since 1956
Popularity
Suni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Suni from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 112 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Suni remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Suni 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 Suni 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 Suni
The name Suni has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was prevalent in ancient India and the surrounding regions. It can be traced back to the Vedic period, which is estimated to have spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "suni," meaning "virtuous" or "well-behaved."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Suni can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Suni was the name of a king who ruled over the Surasena kingdom, located in present-day northern India. The Mahabharata is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE, which suggests that the name Suni was in use during that time period.
Another notable figure bearing the name Suni was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 1st century BCE. He is mentioned in the Pali Canon, a collection of Buddhist scriptures, as one of the disciples of the Buddha. This indicates that the name Suni was also used within the Buddhist tradition during the early centuries of the Common Era.
In the realm of literature, Suni was the name of a character in the Sanskrit play "Vikramorvasiyam" by the ancient Indian poet Kalidasa, who lived around the 4th or 5th century CE. This play is considered one of the masterpieces of classical Sanskrit literature and further solidifies the prevalence of the name Suni in ancient Indian culture.
Moving forward in history, Suni was also the name of a prominent Muslim scholar and poet who lived in the 11th century CE. He was born in Ghazni, present-day Afghanistan, and is known for his contributions to the field of Arabic literature and poetry. This suggests that the name Suni had transcended its Sanskrit origins and was adopted by other cultures in the region.
Another notable figure with the name Suni was a 16th-century Sikh warrior and poet from Punjab, India. He is remembered for his bravery in battles against the Mughal Empire and for his poetic compositions, which were influenced by the teachings of Sikhism.
While these are just a few examples, the name Suni has been present throughout various periods of history, spanning different cultures and religions in the Indian subcontinent and surrounding regions. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Sanskrit language, and it has been used by notable figures across various fields, including literature, religion, and warfare.
People
Suni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Suni 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
Suni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Suni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 346 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Suni 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 990,619 US residents.
Is Suni a common name?
We classify Suni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 371 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Suni most popular?
The single biggest year for Suni was 1988, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Suni is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Suni a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Suni 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.
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.