Find out how popular the last name Sun is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Sun.

Sun, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Sun surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sun in America

Sun is the 1484th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sun surname appeared 24,058 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Sun.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sun to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Sun

The surname SUN originated in China, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the Warring States period (475-221 BC). The name is derived from the Chinese character "孙" (sūn), which means "grandchild" or "descendant." It was a common practice in ancient China to adopt generational names as surnames.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), the name SUN gained prominence. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the historical text "Zizhi Tongjian" (资治通鉴), which mentions the warlord Sun Jian (155-191 AD) and his descendants, who played a pivotal role in the tumultuous Three Kingdoms period.

In the 7th century AD, the prominent scholar and calligrapher Sun Guoting (648-703 AD) made significant contributions to the development of the Regular Script (kaishu) calligraphic style. His works are celebrated and studied to this day.

The surname SUN also has connections to various place names, such as Sunchon County in North Korea and Sunchang County in South Korea. These place names likely originated from individuals bearing the surname SUN who settled in those regions.

Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the surname SUN. Sun Tzu (544-496 BC), the author of the renowned military treatise "The Art of War," is perhaps the most famous. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), a revolutionary leader and the first president of the Republic of China, played a crucial role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and establishing a modern Chinese state.

Other notable individuals include Sun Simiao (581-682 AD), a celebrated physician and author of the influential medical text "Beiji Qianjin Yaofang" (備急千金要方); Sun Quan (182-252 AD), the founding emperor of the Eastern Wu state during the Three Kingdoms period; and Sun Xingyan (1753-1818), a prominent scholar and poet during the Qing Dynasty.

The surname SUN continues to be widely used in various Chinese communities around the world, carrying a rich historical legacy that spans more than two millennia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sun

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Sun.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Sun was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Sun has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

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

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

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