sunde

Sunde is a surname of Scandinavian origin and a toponym used for multiple places in Nordic countries. The name is derived from the Old Norse word sund, meaning a strait or waterway, with the element -e that appears in many Norwegian and Swedish place and family names as a habitational marker.

As a surname, Sunde is most commonly found in Norway and Sweden, where it typically indicated origin near a water passage. In contemporary use, bearers of the name span various occupations and regions, reflecting broader Nordic naming practices.

As a toponym, Sunde identifies several localities in Norway and elsewhere in the Nordic region. In Norway, for example, Sunde names can denote villages, districts, or neighborhood areas that lie beside a waterway, while similar place names appear in other Nordic countries due to shared linguistic roots.

The related term Sund, without the -e, is a broader toponym and surname in the region, and it sometimes appears in compound place names.