Sullivan
Meaning
surname Ó Súilleabháin, traditionally "dark eyes"
Goes by Sully
The story
Sullivan is the Irish surname O Suilleabhain, traditionally read as dark eyes, and its first-name record ran flat at about a hundred a decade for a century, a name America knew entirely from firehouses, courtrooms and boxing rings. The turn: about 620 in the 1990s, 2,400 in the 2000s, 7,000 in the 2010s, and 6,100 so far this decade, closing on the full total. Sully does the everyday work, as our nickname records note, and Sully has range: a giant blue monster beloved by every child since 2001, and a pilot who landed on a river and made the nickname a synonym for calm. In our records it goes to boys about 15,600 to 1,400. Three syllables of Irish gravity with a two-letter grin inside: Sullivan is a formal signature that comes with its own handshake.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Sullivan peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
462 people · the #14,132 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 500,000 · median age 32
Among people named Sullivan living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Sullivan
Most people given the name Sullivan in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Sullivan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Sullivan truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Sullivan fits with your family’s names and surname.
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