Given name & surname
Sumner
“a legal official; one who serves summons”
Sumner is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a legal official; one who serves summons.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a legal official; one who serves summons.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sumner through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,662
- 2,444 boys · 218 girls
- Most popular year
- 1920
- 65 babies
- 2025
- 23
- #5,580 for boys · #14,728 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +21%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 17 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,580 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 4.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 6 birth records for girls in 2025. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,310 as a first name in 2020; 17,669 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sumner’s family of names
Sumner has a related form in Sumenor. Sumner has a related form in Sumernor.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Sumner
- Sumner PaineAmerican sport shooter (1868–1904)
- Sumner RedstoneAmerican businessman and media magnate (1923-2020)
- Sumner WhiteAmerican sailor (1929–1988)
- Sumner Getchellactor (1906-1990)
- Sumner SewallAmerican politician, 58th Governor of Maine (1897–1965)
- Sumner Byron MyersAmerican mathematician (1910–1955)
- Sumner Locke ElliottAustralian writer (1917–1991)
- Sumner Archibald CunninghamAmerican Confederate veteran and editor (1843-1913)
- Sumner G. WhittierAmerican politician from Massachusetts (1911-2010)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Sumner, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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