100 Sun-Inspired Baby Names From Around the World

Sun names carry a kind of built-in warmth. From the Latin Sol to the Sanskrit Surya, the Japanese Hikari, and the Irish Grian, nearly every culture has looked up and turned that daily light into a name.

You will find 100 sun-inspired names here, sorted into 43 for girls, 44 for boys, and 13 that work for any baby. Some are direct, meaning sun or sunlight outright; others carry the idea softly through dawn, brightness, or gold.

Scroll through, say a few out loud, and see which one feels like your little one’s morning light.

43 Girl Names That Mean Sun

These sun names for girls are truly dazzling. Olivia topped the list as the single most popular U.S. girl name, given to 14,718 babies in 2024, according to the Social Security Administration ⁽¹⁾.

1. Aelia: An ancient Roman girl name meaning “sun,” and the feminine form of the family name Aelius.
2. Áine: An Irish name meaning “radiance,” carried by the goddess of summer, love, and the sun.
3. Akycha: The name of an Inuit sun goddess once honored across Alaska.
4. Alba: A pretty Spanish and Italian name meaning “sunrise” or “dawn,” also used as a surname.
5. Aurora: A luminous name meaning “dawn,” shared by the Roman goddess of daybreak and the polar auroras.
6. Bast: An ancient Egyptian goddess of cats, protection, and the sun, with a name tied to the word for an ointment “jar.”
7. Cymbeline: A melodic Welsh name meaning “sun lord,” rooted in the British king Cunobelinus.
8. Dawn: An elegant English word name for daybreak and the first light of morning.
9. Easter: An English name meaning “dawn,” linked to the spring dawn goddess Eostre.
10. Electryone: A Greek name meaning “amber,” belonging to a daughter of the sun god Helios.
11. Eliana: A melodic name meaning “daughter of the sun,” with sweet nicknames like Ellie and Lia.
12. Eos: The Greek goddess of the dawn, whose short name simply means “dawn.”
13. Étaín: Pronounced “ay-deen,” this Irish girl name of uncertain meaning belonged to a shining sun maiden of Irish legend.
14. Helen: A timeless Greek name linked to “light” and the sun, famous through Helen of Troy.
15. Helia: A sweet Greek name inspired by the Heliades, the “daughters of the sun.”
16. Heulwen: A Welsh name meaning “sunshine,” from “heul” (sun) and “gwen” (fair).
17. Hunu: A warm Maori girl name meaning “sunray.”
18. Kalinda: A melodic Hindi girl name meaning “sun.”
19. Lina: A warm Portuguese feminine name meaning “sunlight,” and a tender short form of Carolina.
20. Malina: An Inuit name for the sun goddess who, in myth, chases her brother the moon across the sky.
21. Mehri: A Persian girl name meaning “sunny” or “kind,” from “mehr,” the word for sun and affection.
22. Morag: A traditional Scottish female name meaning “great,” long tied to sun and summer imagery.
23. Nanala: A floral pick meaning “sunflower,” from Hawaiian.
24. Narangerel: A Mongolian name meaning “sunlight,” from “naran” (sun) and “gerel” (light).
25. Olwen: A Welsh name meaning “white footprint,” worn by a sun-bright maiden of the Mabinogion.
26. Oriana: A romantic name linked to “dawn” and gold, likely from the Latin “aurum.”
27. Saulė: The Baltic sun goddess, whose name is simply the Lithuanian word for “sun.”
28. Savita: A radiant Indian girl name meaning “sun,” the feminine of the Vedic solar deity Savitr.
29. Siria: A sweet name meaning “bright” and “glowing,” evoking the brilliance of the sun.
30. Solana: A pretty Spanish name meaning “sunshine” or “sunny side,” a feminine spin on Sol.
31. Sole: The Italian word for “sun,” bright and simple.
32. Solveig: A Scandinavian name romantically read as “daughter of the sun,” made famous by the play Peer Gynt.
33. Summer: A cheerful English word name for the sunniest season of the year.
34. Sunbeam: A playful word name, with sweet nicknames like Sunny or Beam.
35. Sunčana: A Croatian name meaning “sunny,” bright with summer warmth.
36. Sunday: An English word name for the first, sunniest day of the week.
37. Sunflower: An uncommon floral word name for a bright, cheerful girl.
38. Sunniva: A Norwegian name meaning “sun gift,” borne by a beloved medieval saint.
39. Sunshine: A bright English word name for your little ray of light.
40. Synnøve: A Norwegian name meaning “sun gift,” a softer cousin of Sunniva.
41. Tesni: A gorgeous Welsh girl name meaning “warmth from the sun.”
42. Yindi: A rare Australian female name meaning “sun.”
43. Zarya: A Slavic name meaning “dawn,” personified as the goddess of daybreak.

44 Boy Names That Mean Sun

These sun names for boys may sound hot, but we think they’re super cool. Liam led every boy’s name in the country in 2025, according to the Social Security Administration ⁽²⁾.

1. Aadav: An energetic Indian male name meaning “sun.”
2. Aarush: A Sanskrit name meaning “first ray of the sun” or “dawn.”
3. Aelius: The male form of Aelia, an ancient Roman masculine name meaning “sun.”
4. Anatole: A dreamy French boy name meaning “sunrise,” from the Greek for “east.”
5. Apollo: The Greek god of light, music, and the sun, a bright and bold pick.
6. Areg: A short, strong Armenian name meaning “sun.”
7. Arki: A unique Hindi boy name meaning “descendant of the sun.”
8. Arthit: A Thai name meaning “sun,” related to the Sanskrit Aditya.
9. Aruna: A Sanskrit name for the reddish glow of dawn, personified as the charioteer of the sun god.
10. Aten: An Egyptian name meaning “sun disk,” after the radiant solar deity Aten.
11. Atid: A cool, energetic Thai male name meaning “sun.”
12. Baldr: The shining Norse god of light and beauty, with a name meaning “prince.”
13. Bhaskar: A Sanskrit name meaning “light-maker,” a classic epithet for the sun.
14. Blaze: A fiery English name evoking flame and sunlight, from the Latin name Blaise.
15. Cye: A cool Iranian choice meaning “sun,” related to the Greek name Cyrus.
16. Cyrus: A classic Persian name read as “sun” or “lord of the sun,” borne by Cyrus the Great.
17. Dazhbog: The Slavic sun god whose name means “giving god,” a bringer of warmth and light.
18. Dismas: A Greek male name meaning “sunset,” a fitting pick for a dusk-born baby.
19. Domingo: A Spanish name meaning “Sunday,” from the Latin Dominicus, “of the Lord.”
20. Eguzki: The Basque word for “sun,” a rare and striking choice.
21. Elio: A stylish Italian form of the Greek Helios, meaning “sun.”
22. Haul: The Welsh word for “sun,” a rare gem among sun names.
23. Heliodoro: A Spanish boy name meaning “gift of the sun,” from the Greek Helios.
24. Helios: A Greek mythology name for the Titan who personified the sun itself.
25. Horus: The falcon-headed Egyptian sky god whose right eye represented the sun.
26. Inti: The Inca sun god, a radiant name from the Quechua word for “sun.”
27. Ishan: A handsome Hindi name meaning “sun” and “ruler,” an epithet of the god Shiva.
28. Jamshid: A radiant Persian name meaning “shining sun,” worn by a legendary king.
29. Kourosh: A popular Persian boy name meaning “sun” or “like the sun,” the Persian form of Cyrus.
30. Malakbel: An ancient sun god of Palmyra whose name means “messenger of the lord Bel.”
31. Phoebus: A Greek name meaning “bright” and “radiant,” another name for the sun god Apollo.
32. Prabhakar: A Sanskrit name meaning “maker of light,” a poetic title for the sun.
33. Ra: The supreme Egyptian sun god, whose name means “sun.”
34. Ravi: A Sanskrit name for the sun god, bright and widely loved.
35. Rohit: A Sanskrit name meaning “red,” capturing the crimson shades of an early sunrise.
36. Samson: A strong biblical Hebrew boy name meaning “sun.”
37. Solaris: A stylish Latin male name meaning “of the sun.”
38. Sorin: A handsome Romanian name meaning “sun,” from the word “soare.”
39. Sulien: A unique Welsh saint name meaning “born of the sun.”
40. Suraj: A popular Sanskrit name meaning “sun,” bright and well loved.
41. Surya: The Hindu sun god, with a Sanskrit name that means “sun.”
42. Taner: A handsome Turkish name meaning “born at daybreak,” from “tan” (dawn) and “er” (man).
43. Thinnakorn: An earthy, standout Thai pick meaning “sun.”
44. Vihaan: A Sanskrit name meaning “dawn” or “morning,” perfect for a sunrise baby.

13 Gender-Neutral Names That Mean Sun

These unisex names that mean sun are as bright as can be.

1. Akino: A cheerful Japanese name often read as “rising sun.”
2. Aurinko: The Finnish word for “sun,” a chirpy unisex pick.
3. Gisli: An Old Norse name meaning “ray of sunshine.”
4. Hinata: A Japanese name meaning “sunny place” or “toward the sun.”
5. Kiran: A Hindi name meaning “ray of light,” perfect for a little sunshine.
6. Magec: The ancient Guanche sun god of the Canary Islands.
7. Ray: A bright, breezy English name and a short form of Raymond.
8. Shams: The Arabic word for “sun,” a luminous choice for any child.
9. Shemesh: A Hebrew name meaning “sun,” the same word found in the Bible.
10. Sol: The Roman and Norse sun god, and the Spanish word for “sun.”
11. Soleil: The French word for “sun,” elegant and luminous.
12. Sun: A bright English word name, also a Korean name element meaning “goodness.”
13. Sunny: A cheerful nickname-name for a child with a bright disposition.

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