How to say it
SUM · mer
/ˈsʌm.ɚ/
Feminine
Summer
The summer season
What it means
English word name from the season, ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root. As a given name it picked up in the 1970s alongside other word and nature names; The O.C.'s Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson, 2003-2007) gave it Gen-X-and-Y anchor.
Summer is straight from the English word for the season, ultimately from a Proto-Germanic root sumar (cognate with Sanskrit sama, 'half-year'). As a given name Summer picked up in the 1970s as part of the broader virtue-and-nature-name wave (alongside Autumn, Dawn, April). The O.C.'s Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson, 2003-2007) gave it Gen-X-and-Y currency. Donna Summer the disco singer is the older anchor. As a given name it's been in the US top 200 since 2003. Single syllable in some American pronunciations (SUM-er) versus the standard two-syllable (SUM-mer).
Popularity over time
peaked at #119 in 1977, currently #152 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
Donna Summer (the disco queen), The O.C.'s Summer Roberts, and 500 Days of Summer (the 2009 film with Zooey Deschanel's Summer Finn) are three different cultural anchors across the eras.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Donna Summer American disco singer, Hot Stuff and Last Dance, 1948-2012
- Summer Roberts Rachel Bilson's character in The O.C., 2003-2007
Spelling variants
- Sommer