Susana
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name Shoshana, meaning "lily" or "rose".
Name Census estimates that about 18,380 living Americans carry the first name Susana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Susana today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Susana births was 1993 (537 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Susana. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Susana with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Susana is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 52 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 18,648 Americans
Peak year
1993
537 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1990 SSA rank
#2,338
Tracked since 1881
Census
Susana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 46,460 people with the first name Susana, which placed it at #949 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
#949
National first-name rank
People counted
46K
46,460 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
15.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
88.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Susana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Susana is Hispanic at 88.2%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Susana 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 Susana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.2% · 40,966
- White5.6% · 2,581
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 2,379
- Black or African American0.8% · 356
- Two or more races0.3% · 127
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 51
Gender
Gender distribution for Susana
Out of the 20,965 babies given the name Susana since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Susana as a male name
- Ranked #7,994 in 1990
- 6 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1981 (6 births)
Susana as a female name
- Ranked #2,338 in 2024
- 79 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (537 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Susana appears almost entirely female. Of the 46,458 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Susana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Susana from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 4,147 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Susana 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 Susana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Susanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Susana, while South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 652 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Susana
The name Susana is a feminine given name derived from the Hebrew name Shoshana, which means "lily" or "rose." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Israel, where it was a popular name among Jewish communities.
The earliest recorded use of the name Susana can be found in the Book of Daniel, an ancient Jewish text that is part of the Hebrew Bible. In this book, Susana is portrayed as a virtuous woman who was falsely accused of adultery but ultimately vindicated through divine intervention.
In the Christian tradition, Susana is also mentioned in the Apocryphal book of Susanna, which is included in some versions of the Bible. This text further solidified the name's association with virtue and righteousness.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Susana. One of the earliest examples is Susana Monteiro (1590-1668), a Portuguese-Brazilian woman who played a significant role in the early colonization of Brazil.
Another notable figure is Susana Rowson (1762-1824), an American novelist, playwright, and actress who is considered one of the first successful female writers in America.
In the realm of literature, Susana Pollock (1839-1923) was a prominent Irish novelist and short story writer who explored themes of social justice and women's rights in her works.
The name Susana also has a strong presence in the world of art. Susana Solano (1946-2011) was a renowned Colombian painter and sculptor known for her vibrant and expressive works.
Additionally, Susana Baca (born 1944) is a celebrated Peruvian singer and activist who has been instrumental in preserving and promoting Afro-Peruvian music and culture.
While these are just a few examples, the name Susana has been borne by countless women throughout history, each leaving their unique mark on the world.
People
Susana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Susana 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
Susana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Susana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 18,380 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Susana 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 18,648 US residents.
Is Susana a common name?
We classify Susana as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,965 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Susana most popular?
The single biggest year for Susana was 1993, when 537 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Susana is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Susana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 46,460 people with the name Susana, or 15.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #949 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 Susana 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 Susana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Susana appears almost entirely female. Of the 46,458 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Susana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Susana is Hispanic at 88.2%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Susana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Susana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (40,966 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 Susana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Susana a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Susana 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 Susana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Susana 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 Susana 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 have the name Susana?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Susana, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.