Susa
A feminine name derived from the biblical place Shushan, possibly meaning "lily."
Name Census estimates that about 145 living Americans carry the first name Susa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Susa today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Susa births was 1959 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Susa. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Susa is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Susas were born before 1968.
People living today
145
~ 1 in 2,363,823 Americans
Peak year
1959
15 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1985 SSA rank
#12,268
Tracked since 1924
Census
Susa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 399 people with the first name Susa, which placed it at #24,220 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
#24,220
National first-name rank
People counted
399
399 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Susa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Susa is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%). 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 Susa 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 Susa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 303
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 24
- Black or African American5.0% · 20
- Two or more races1.8% · 7
Popularity
Susa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Susa from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 109 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Susa 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 Susa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Susa
The name Susa is believed to have originated from the ancient Sumerian city of Susa, located in modern-day Iran. This city, which dates back to around 4200 BC, was one of the oldest and most important cities of the ancient world, serving as the capital of the Elamite Empire for several centuries.
The name Susa is derived from the Sumerian words "su" meaning "to go out" or "to rise," and "sa" meaning "to be bright" or "to shine." It is thought to have been a reference to the city's location on a fertile river plain and its position as a center of culture and learning.
In ancient texts, the city of Susa is mentioned in various Mesopotamian records, including the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Code of Hammurabi. It is also referenced in the Bible, particularly in the Book of Esther, where it is described as the winter capital of the Persian Empire under King Ahasuerus.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Susa was Susa-munamira, a princess of the Elamite Empire who lived in the 14th century BC. Another notable figure was Susa-kinti, a ruler of the city of Susa in the 7th century BC.
In ancient Greece, a famous figure named Susa was a celebrated courtesan and companion of the philosopher Pericles, who lived in the 5th century BC. She was known for her intelligence and wit, and was highly regarded in Athenian society.
During the Middle Ages, Susa was the name of a Frankish noblewoman who was the wife of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor. She lived from around 770 to 810 AD and played a significant role in the court of her husband.
In more recent history, Susa was the name of a Russian Orthodox saint who lived in the 16th century. Saint Susa of Moscow (1510-1594) was known for her charitable works and devotion to the church.
Another notable individual named Susa was Susa Young Gates (1856-1933), an American writer, editor, and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was a prominent figure in the women's rights movement and played a key role in promoting education and literary pursuits within the LDS community.
People
Susa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Susa 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
Susa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Susa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Susa 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 2,363,823 US residents.
Is Susa a common name?
We classify Susa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 211 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Susa most popular?
The single biggest year for Susa was 1959, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Susa is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Susa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 399 people with the name Susa, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,220 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 Susa 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 Susa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Susa leans strongly female. 399 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Susa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Susa is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%). 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 Susa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Susa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (303 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 Susa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Susa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Susa 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 Susa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Susa 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 Susa 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 Americans are named Susa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.