Susan

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled סוזן in FR France, IL Israel, MA Morocco, Suzan in TR Türkiye, SY Syria, Suzanne in NL Netherlands, SE Sweden and Suzann in BR Brazil.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 25 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Susan is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name949K records spelled Susan15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Peru, France

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French

  Also written Suzan, Süzan, Śuzan, Sûzañ, Šüžañ

• a separate given name732K records spelled Susan5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Su-San, Sūsan, Susàn, Susán

• Polish given name70K records spelled Susan76 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, Czechia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Polish, Russian, Czech

  Also written Сусан, Suzan, Сюзан, Сузан, Сьюзан

• Indonesian given name41K records spelled Susan43 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, English, Malay

  Also written Susa, Shusha, 'Susan, Šuša, Suša

• Hungarian given name30K records spelled Susan8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Susán, Şuşan, Susän, Süsan

• Greek given name29K records spelled Susan3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Souzan, Σουζαν

86 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Susan is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from Hebrew Shushannah 'lily'; first attested Susanna 1194 CurR (Suffolk)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• English vernacular form of Susanna, always the most common of this group of names. A 20th-century influence has been the American film star Susan Hayward (1918-75). Variant: Suzan. Short form: Sue, Su, Soo. Pet forms: Susie, Suzie, Suzy, Sukie, Sukey. ie 228

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In Arabic, lily of the valley; iris

  as a name·A Dictionary of Muslim Names

• In English, French; a lily; from the name Susanna

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, Hebrew; a lily

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Susan B. Anthonyb. 1820USAmerican women's rights activist (1820–1906)
• Susan Haywardb. 1917USAmerican actress (1917–1975)
• Susan Sontagb. 1933USAmerican writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist (1933–2004)
• A. S. Byattb. 1936GBnot in their usual nameBritish writer (1936–2023)
• Susan Sarandonb. 1946USAmerican actress and activist
• Sigourney Weaverb. 1949USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (born 1949)
• Linda Lovelaceb. 1949USnot in their usual nameAmerican pornographic actress (1949-2002)
• Susan Boyleb. 1961GBBritish singer
• Susan Wojcickib. 1968USAmerican business executive (1968–2024) Former CEO of YouTube
• Candice Swanepoelb. 1988ZAnot in their usual nameSouth African model

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,449 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Susan?

We estimate roughly 1.5 million people bear Susan (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Susan have the most bearers?

Susan is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled susan.

How common is Susan compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Susan is the 14th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Susan a male or female name?

Susan is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Susan mean?

Recorded meaning: (i) from the female personal name Susan, from Hebrew Shushannah ‘lily’; (ii) from Jewish male personal name Susan, from Arabic susan ‘lily’; (iii) ‘person who lives at the top end of a village or high…