The Sun surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 24,058 people carried this name — #1,484 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 12,300 people counted. That is up 61% from 14,962 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Sun surname
From Mandarin 孫／孙 (Sūn), Wade-Giles romanization: Sun¹.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Sun» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
495 people named Sun live in Switzerland.
They live in 17 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 277 people named Sun live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in City of Buenos Aires.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 194 people named Sun live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Flemish Brabant.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 144 people named Sun.
Most of them — 120 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 15 départements, most often Wallis and Futuna.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
21 people named Sun have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 448 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 5 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
697 people named Sun are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Who carried it
People named Sun,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Sun Qian 150–214 · politician -
Sun Tzu 400–460 · mathematician -
Sun Simiao 581–682 · physician -
Sun Yingshi 1154–1206 · writer -
Empress Xiaogongzhang 1399–1462
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 253 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Sun.
- Sullivan 220,990 · U.S. census
- Sully 757 · U.S. census
- Sultan 3,363 · U.S. census
- Sultana 3,471 · U.S. census
- Sulzer 839 · U.S. census
- Sum 1,482 · U.S. census
- Suppa 1,023 · U.S. census
- Supper 123 · U.S. census
- Sur 698 · U.S. census
- Surace 965 · U.S. census
- Suran 173 · U.S. census
- Surin 394 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Sun is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.