Name Awesome

Sully

#3,370 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Diminutive of Sullivan

Sully has been given to 1,050 babies in the U.S. since 1993. In 2025 it ranked #3,370 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2011, with 42 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 65% boys, 35% girls all-time.

Babies named Sully, 2025

1 in 94,700

Sully over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Sully over time

In 2025, Sully went to 15% girls and 85% boys.

19802025

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.

Sully: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Sullivan

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Sully means

Sully is a diminutive of Sullivan.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Sully → Sullivan. The family’s meaning is “Dark-eyed; through an Irish surname”, recorded in the naming reference for Sullivan.

Origin, language, and formation

Sully is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Sullivan.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Sully is pronounced /ˈsʌli/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 680 boys were recorded with the name Sully between 1993 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 42 in 2011; its best national rank was #2,842 in 2011.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,675 in 2020 to #3,370 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #5,479 in 2015 to #3,370 in 2025.

In the United States, 370 girls were recorded with the name Sully between 1980 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 40 in 1984; its best national rank was #2,412 in 1984.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #10,981 in 2020 to #14,721 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #14,330 in 2015 to #14,721 in 2025.

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 Sully?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 94,700
35 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 48,800
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,370
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
65,655 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Sully sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 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 65,655 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sully. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sullys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sully was born before 2012 — so the typical Sully is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
37.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
91.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
680
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 37.8% of all recorded uses (257).

Is Sully 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
+222
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,305
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,109
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.06×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
83.3%
Peak was 2011 (42)
Years since peak
14
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
21.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,842
2011

Spellings of Sully

Sully is not the most common spelling — Billy is, with 78.7% against Sully's 0.14%.

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.

Where Sully is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Sully was most concentrated in Wisconsin — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 690,977 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Wisconsin1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Sully has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Sully is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Sully was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 380,860 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Illinois1 in —
  3. 3New York1 in —
  4. 4Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Sully has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Sully around the world

Where Sully ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2005–2025
    #529
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2022–2025
    #762
    in 2025
  • France
    1900–2025
    #1,808
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2011–2024
    #1,536
    in 2024

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Sully by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,370
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,305
Best rank ever
#2,842
2011
Peak year
2011
42 that year
First recorded
1993
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
680
Count in 2025
35

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#14,721
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,740
Best rank ever
#2,412
1984
Peak year
1984
40 that year
First recorded
1980
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
370
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Sully

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

TullyRollySultanSulaymanSulimanSulemanSallySuleimanSuleymanWillySuloMollyJollyWallySulaimanTellyHollyNellyCullyOllyReillySollyTallyRally

Sibling names for Sully

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

Explore around Sully

Top names of 2011, Sully's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2011Boys' names starting with S