Meaning theme
15 Names That Mean Sun
Names that mean sun include Sol (Spanish and Latin), Elio (Italian), Surya (Sanskrit), Soleil (French), Samson (Hebrew), and Shams (Arabic). Apollo, the Greek god of the sun and light, and Cyrus, a Persian royal name long associated with the sun, are also popular solar choices.
Sun names radiate warmth, vitality, and optimism, qualities parents have wished upon children since antiquity. Solar deities anchored the mythologies of Greece, India, and Persia, and their names still feel golden today. The names below all carry a genuine connection to the sun, whether through etymology or the gods who personified it.
- Agni MasculineSanskrit“fire”
- Áine FeminineIrish“radiance, brilliance”
- Apollo MasculineGreek“uncertain; god of the sun and light”
- Arun MasculineSanskrit“reddish glow of the rising sun”
- Cyrus MasculinePersian“traditionally linked to the sun”
- Elio MasculineItalian“sun”
- Lucia FeminineLatin“light”
- Ravi MasculineSanskrit“sun”
- Samson MasculineHebrew“sun”
- Shams UnisexArabic“sun”
- Sol UnisexSpanish and Latin“sun”
- Solana FeminineSpanish“sunshine, sunny place”
- Soleil FeminineFrench“sun”
- Sunniva FeminineOld English and Norwegian“sun gift”
- Surya MasculineSanskrit“sun”
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Questions
Soleil, the French word for sun, and Solana, a Spanish name meaning sunshine, are warm feminine options. Sunniva, an Old English and Norwegian name meaning sun gift, offers a more unexpected route, while Aine, an Irish goddess name meaning radiance, carries solar associations in Celtic myth.
Surya and Ravi are classic Sanskrit names for the sun and remain widely used in India. Elio, the Italian descendant of the Greek sun god Helios, has grown fashionable in Europe, and Samson derives from the Hebrew word shemesh, meaning sun.
Apollo is the name of the Greek god of the sun, light, music, and prophecy, but the literal meaning of the name itself is uncertain and predates classical Greek. Parents choose it for the solar mythology rather than a dictionary definition, and it has risen steadily as a bold boys' name.
Shams is the Arabic word for sun and is used as a given name for both sexes across the Arabic-speaking world. It was famously borne by Shams of Tabriz, the wandering mystic who inspired the poet Rumi.