Shoshannah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "rose" or "lily".
Name Census estimates that about 209 living Americans carry the first name Shoshannah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shoshannah today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shoshannah births was 1980 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shoshannah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
209
~ 1 in 1,639,973 Americans
Peak year
1980
14 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2017 SSA rank
#15,656
Tracked since 1967
Census
Shoshannah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 275 people with the first name Shoshannah, which placed it at #31,234 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#31,234
National first-name rank
People counted
275
275 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shoshannah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shoshannah is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Shoshannah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Shoshannah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.4% · 199
- Black or African American9.8% · 27
- Two or more races6.5% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 8
Popularity
Shoshannah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shoshannah from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 82 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shoshannah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Shoshannah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shoshannahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shoshannah
Shoshannah is a Hebrew name derived from the Hebrew word "shoshanah," meaning "rose" or "lily." The name has its roots in ancient Semitic cultures and languages, where flowers and plants were often used as symbolic representations in names.
The earliest known use of the name Shoshannah can be traced back to the Bible, specifically in the Song of Songs, which is a book of the Hebrew Bible attributed to King Solomon. The name appears as a metaphor for the beloved, comparing her beauty to that of a rose or lily.
In Jewish tradition, the name Shoshannah has been associated with purity, beauty, and spiritual growth. It was often given to girls as a symbol of these qualities and as a way to honor the Biblical reference.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shoshannah was Shoshannah Rabbanit, a renowned Jewish scholar and teacher who lived in the 16th century. She was known for her expertise in Jewish law and her contributions to the education of women in her community.
Another notable figure in history with the name Shoshannah was Shoshannah Persitz, a Jewish activist and writer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was a prominent figure in the Zionist movement and worked tirelessly to promote the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
In the 20th century, Shoshannah Shababo was a celebrated Israeli singer and actress who gained fame for her performances in both Hebrew and Yiddish productions. She was born in 1915 and passed away in 2005.
Shoshannah Rosen-Sheidley was an American anthropologist and author who specialized in the study of Native American cultures. She was born in 1924 and made significant contributions to the field of anthropology through her extensive research and writings.
Shoshannah Brombacher is a contemporary Israeli artist known for her intricate sculptures and installations. Born in 1963, her work often explores themes of memory, identity, and the human condition.
Throughout history, the name Shoshannah has maintained its connection to its Hebrew roots and has been embraced by Jewish communities around the world as a beautiful and meaningful name for their daughters.
People
Shoshannah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shoshannah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shoshannah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shoshannah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 209 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shoshannah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,639,973 US residents.
Is Shoshannah a common name?
We classify Shoshannah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 223 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shoshannah most popular?
The single biggest year for Shoshannah was 1980, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shoshannah is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shoshannah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 275 people with the name Shoshannah, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,234 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Shoshannah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Shoshannah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shoshannah leans strongly female. 280 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Shoshannah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shoshannah is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Shoshannah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shoshannah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (199 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Shoshannah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shoshannah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shoshannah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Shoshannah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shoshannah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Shoshannah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Shoshannah?
See how many people have the name Shoshannah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.