Susanna
Meaning of Susanna
Susanna is a name that first unfolded in ancient Hebrew as Shoshannah—“lily”—and, like a silken ribbon carried on a sea breeze, threaded its way through Greek, Latin, and finally the musical cadences of Italian, where she still strolls beneath lemon trees and ocher balconies. She carries biblical grace from the tale of Susanna and the Elders, the lily symbolizing purity that defies gossip’s shadows, yet she is equally at home in folk-song refrains—prepare for an affectionate chorus of “Oh! Susanna” at family picnics. Art and literature have sketched her in soft chiaroscuro: Caravaggio bathed her in candlelight, while contemporary author Susanna Tamaro lets her wander through modern prose. In America, her bloom once crowned nursery gardens at the turn of the twentieth century and, though her ranking now drifts in the 700s, she remains the quiet wildflower that seasoned namers rediscover with delighted surprise. Choose Susanna and you invite a name scented with lilies, serenaded by banjos, and kissed by a Tuscan sunset—classic, unhurried, and forever in gentle blossom.
Pronunciation
Spanish
- Pronunced as soo-SAH-nah (/suˈsa/)
Italian
- Pronunced as soo-ZAHN-nah (/suˈzaŋna/)
English
- Pronunced as soo-ZAN-uh (/suˈzænə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Susanna
| Susanna Clarke is an English author who spent a decade writing her best-selling debut Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which went on to win the Hugo Award. |
| Susanna Montgomerie, Countess of Eglinton - Susanna Montgomerie was the third wife of the 9th Earl of Eglinton and lived nearly 51 years as a widow before dying at Auchans in Scotland in 1780 at age 90. |
| Susanna Dickinson and her baby daughter Angelina survived the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, where her husband and the other Texian defenders were killed. |
| Susanna Reid is an English broadcaster and journalist best known for co-hosting BBC Breakfast and, since 2014, leading ITV's Good Morning Britain. |
| Susanna Wesley is known as the Mother of Methodism because her sons John and Charles Wesley built the movement on the faith and lessons she taught them at home. |
| Susanna Moodie was an English-born writer known for her accounts of settler life in colonial Canada. |
| Susanna Gregory is the pen name of Elizabeth Cruwys, a former coroner's officer turned Cambridge academic who writes medieval mysteries starring physician sleuth Matthew Bartholomew. |
| Susanna du Plessis (1739–1795) was a plantation owner in Dutch Surinam who became a legendary symbol of the cruel slave owner, a reputation that is probably undeserved. |
| Susanna Kearsley is a bestselling Canadian novelist known for historical fiction and mystery, including her RITA Award winner The Firebird. |
| Susanna Brudenell-Bruce, Countess of Ailesbury - Susanna Hoare became Countess of Ailesbury as the first wife of Earl Thomas Brudenell-Bruce and was the mother of the 1st Marquess of Ailesbury. |
| Susanna Cox was a young Pennsylvania servant who was hanged in Reading in 1809 for the death of her infant son. |
| Susanna Thompson is an American actress best known for playing the Borg Queen on Star Trek: Voyager and Moira Queen on Arrow. |
| Susanna Leveson-Gower, Marchioness of Stafford - Susanna Leveson-Gower was an 18th century British aristocrat and political hostess who became Marchioness of Stafford and used social connections and patronage to advance her family's standing. |
| Susanna Kaysen is an American writer whose 1993 memoir Girl, Interrupted made her famous. |
