Suzan
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name Shoshana, meaning "lily" or "rose".
Name Census estimates that about 6,452 living Americans carry the first name Suzan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Suzan today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Suzan births was 1955 (484 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Suzan. 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
6.5K
~ 1 in 53,124 Americans
Peak year
1955
484 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,341
Tracked since 1898
Popularity
Suzan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Suzan from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 3,571 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
Suzan 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 Suzan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Suzans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Suzan, while West Virginia, South Dakota, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 164 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Suzan
The name Suzan is derived from the Hebrew name Shoshana, meaning "rose" or "lily." It is a feminine form of the name Susan, which originated in the Middle Ages as an English variant of the French name Susanne.
The earliest recorded use of the name Suzan dates back to the 13th century in England. It was a popular name among English and French nobility during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Suzan was Suzan de Beaumont, a 13th-century noblewoman from Normandy, France. Another notable historical figure was Suzan de Bavière, a 15th-century duchess of Burgundy.
In the 16th century, the name Suzan gained popularity in England due to its association with the biblical figure Susanna, who was renowned for her virtue and purity. The name is mentioned in the Book of Daniel in the Bible.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Suzan was particularly popular among English and Scottish aristocracy. Notable bearers include Suzan Arundell (1634-1681), an English Catholic writer and translator, and Suzan Ferrier (1782-1854), a Scottish novelist known for her satirical depictions of Scottish society.
In the 19th century, the name Suzan became more widespread across different social classes in Europe and North America. One of the most famous Suzans of this era was Suzan B. Anthony (1820-1906), an American civil rights leader and pioneer of the women's suffrage movement.
Other notable historical figures named Suzan include Suzan Glaspell (1876-1948), an American playwright and novelist, and Suzan Sontag (1933-2004), an influential American writer, filmmaker, and political activist.
Throughout its history, the name Suzan has been associated with qualities such as grace, beauty, and strength of character, reflecting its floral origins and the virtues of its biblical namesake.
People
Suzan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Suzan 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
Suzan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Suzan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,452 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Suzan 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 53,124 US residents.
Is Suzan a common name?
We classify Suzan as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,081 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Suzan most popular?
The single biggest year for Suzan was 1955, when 484 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Suzan is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Suzan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Suzan 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.
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.