Explore the Family Name Somasundaram

The meaning of Somasundaram

Indian (Chennai, Bengaluru, and Coimbatore areas): from a personal name from Sanskrit soma ‘moon’ + sundara ‘beautiful’ + the Tamil ending -m. The name means ‘one who looks beautiful with the moon (as his diadem)’, that is, the god Shiva. — Note: Since South Indians traditionally do not have hereditary surnames, the southern Indian name was in most cases registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Somasundaram in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Somasundaram saw a significant increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname was ranked at 101,157 in terms of popularity, but by 2010 it had jumped to 52,851 – a change of 47.75%. The number of individuals with this surname also rose during this period, from 165 to 392, representing an impressive growth of 137.58%. Consequently, the proportion of people with this last name per 100,000 population nearly doubled, from 0.06 to 0.13.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#101,157	#52,851	47.75%
Count	165	392	137.58%
Proportion per 100k	0.06	0.13	116.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Somasundaram

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the vast majority of individuals with the surname Somasundaram identify as Asian or Pacific Islander. In 2000, this group made up 97.58% of all Somasundarams, increasing slightly to 98.21% in 2010. There were no recorded instances of this surname among those identifying as two or more races, White, Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	97.58%	98.21%	0.65%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
White	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%