Susanna
Meaning
lily
The story
Susanna is a flower name carried through several languages and two biblical stories. It comes through Greek from the Hebrew Shoshannah, traditionally lily and, in modern Hebrew, also rose. In the Book of Daniel, Susanna survives a false accusation by two elders; in the Gospel of Luke, another Susanna is among the women who support Jesus and his disciples. Those stories helped the name travel widely, producing Susana, Suzanne, Zuzana, and many other forms while Susanna kept the older double-n spelling. Its American curve is unusually calm. Susanna is present in every decade from the 1890s through the 2020s, never surging and never disappearing, with only small movements around a steady floor. That makes it less a revival than a survivor: floral without being newly coined, biblical without sounding severe, and international without losing its recognizable full form.
Susanna around the world
One shared root links 10 names across 5 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Shoshannah "lily", via Greek Sousanna
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Susanna peaked in the 1890s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
156 people · the #30,266 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 33
Among people named Susanna living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Susanna
Most people given the name Susanna in the United States were born between 1960 and 2009. The Susanna you meet today is most often in her 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Susanna deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Susanna truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Susanna fits with your family’s names and surname.
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