Sugar

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Gravel, boulder

Sugar has been given to 181 babies in the U.S. since 1965. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1971, with 11 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 75% girls, 25% boys all-time.

Babies named Sugar, 2016

1 in 734,000

Sugar over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Sugar over time

In 2016, Sugar went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19512016

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Sugar: meaning, origin, and history

Gravel, boulder

English

What Sugar means

Sugar means “gravel, boulder”, associated with ḱorkeh₂.

Origin, language, and formation

Sugar is used in Cebuano. Its origins include English.

Sugar comes through English Sugar, Middle English sugre, Middle French sucre, Old French çucre, roa-oit zucchero and Arabic سُكَّر.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 135 girls were recorded with the name Sugar between 1965 and 2016. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1971; its best national rank was #5,080 in 1971.

In the United States, 46 boys were recorded with the name Sugar between 1951 and 1981. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1981; its best national rank was #3,337 in 1952.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Sugar?

Sugar had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2016, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2016: 1 in 734,000; 5 of 3,669,531 births
Among girls only: 1 in 354,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2016: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 508,706 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Sugar sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2016 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 508,706 children born in 2016 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sugar. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sugars were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sugar was born before 1978 — so the typical Sugar is around 47 today.

Median birth year: 1978; About 47 years old
Biggest decade: 1970s; 53.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 23.7%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 135; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1970s — 53.3% of all recorded uses (72).

Is Sugar rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1971 (11)
Years since peak: 54; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 29.8% average annual change
Best rank ever: #5,080; 1971

Spellings of Sugar

Sugar is not the most common spelling — Susan is, with 97.8% against Sugar's 0.01%.

Susan97.8%1,123,481
Suzan0.79%9,081
Star0.72%8,275
Sahar0.21%2,453
Sumer0.13%1,527
Sula0.12%1,404
Samar0.10%1,107
Edgar0.06%705

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Sugar by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #5,080; 1971
Peak year: 1971; 11 that year
First recorded: 1965
Last recorded: 2016
All-time count: 135
Count in 2025: Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #3,337; 1952
Peak year: 1981; 11 that year
First recorded: 1951
Last recorded: 1981
All-time count: 46
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Sugar

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Hagar Sugey Negar Edgar Sugei Ingar Sugeiri Sugeily

Sibling names for Sugar

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Trena Charisse Darcie Michell Tressa Kerrie Nicola Latonia

For a brother

Darrick Judd Douglass Alfonzo Erich Edwardo Brant Bryon

Explore around Sugar

Top names of 1971, Sugar's peak year The 1970s in full Other names that peaked in 1971 Girls' names starting with S