What was the sun named after?

The English term "sun" comes from the German word "sonne" and Dutch word "zon." The terms "sonne" and "sunne" were previously used to describe the massive star in Old and Middle English.

As with any word, other languages have different names for the sun. For instance, in French, the term is "soleil," and in Italian, it is "sole." Many of today's languages including Spanish, Swedish and Portuguese use the Latin term "sol" for the sun. The ancient Greeks referred to the sun as "Helios" and also personified it as a god. He was depicted as a man with a crown of the sun's rays.