How Many People Are Named Sue?
An estimated 73,781 people in the United States have the first name Sue. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 71 years old, and Sue peaked in popularity in 1947 with 5,318 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sue as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Sue paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Sue is overwhelmingly female, 519 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 71, Sue is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1965.
- Sue has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1940s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
73,781
About 1 in 4,646 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.6% confidence
Average Age
71
years old
Peak Year
1947
5,318 births
Total Registered
145,042
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sue
Sue is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 145,042 total births registered, 99.6% were female.
Sue as a male name
Ranked #5,483 in 1996
11 male births in 1996
Peak: 1943 (19 births)
Sue as a female name
Ranked #8,338 in 2024
13 female births in 2024
Peak: 1947 (5,306 births)
Sue: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sue span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1940s, when 41,082 babies were registered. Sue has declined significantly from its peak in the 1940s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sue by Decade
How has Sue tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 918 | 0 | 918 | |
| 1890s | 1,326 | 0 | 1,326 | |
| 1900s | 1,774 | 0 | 1,774 | |
| 1910s | 6,098 | 7 | 6,091 | |
| 1920s | 7,083 | 10 | 7,073 | |
| 1930s | 19,590 | 83 | 19,507 | |
| 1940s | 41,082 | 139 | 40,943 | |
| 1950s | 38,927 | 75 | 38,852 | |
| 1960s | 21,641 | 39 | 21,602 | |
| 1970s | 3,836 | 15 | 3,821 | |
| 1980s | 1,770 | 93 | 1,677 | |
| 1990s | 580 | 58 | 522 | |
| 2000s | 238 | 0 | 238 | |
| 2010s | 147 | 0 | 147 | |
| 2020s | 32 | 0 | 32 | |
Sue by State
Birth registrations for Sue span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois. The lowest are in Alaska, Nevada, Rhode Island. On average, about 2,698 Sues were registered per state.
Sue + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sue as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sue
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sue: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sue?
We estimate approximately 73,781 people named Sue are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 4,646 Americans share this first name.
Is Sue a common name?
Sue is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 145,042 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sue most popular?
Sue reached peak popularity in 1947, when 5,318 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sue is approximately 71 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sue a female name?
Sue is predominantly female. 99.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sue Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sue Smith, Sue Johnson, Sue Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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