Susan - What is in a Name? What does it Mean?
My name, Susan, was given to me by my parents, obviously. I was named after my father's great-grandmother. According to family legend, when I was born they weren't sure what to name me. The nurses at the hospital I was born in suggested the name Lily because there was a copious amount of water when my mother's water broke. Well, it turns out that the name Susan means lily.
Susan used to be a very popular name, it's not so popular now. Right now it's number 611 on the US Social Security Administration ranking. Currently, the name Emily is number one on the list for girls; Jacob is number one for boys.
The name Susan is believe to have been first used in 2000 B.C., according to the entry in Wikipedia it is originally from the Middle Egyptian "sšn" (lotus flower). They go on to say that "the Hebrew root for the name for the lily, שושן is derived from the root שוש or ששנ , meaning to be joyful, bright, or cheerful, which the basis for the word and name ששון Sasson, meaning joy."
There are many variations on the name Susan, including Suzannah, Sue, and Suzie. I don't mind the name Sue, but beware if you call me Suzie!
Many famous women have the names Susan. Among them are Susan Sarandon, Susan B. Anthony, Susan Sontag and Susan Dey.
There have been times when I have wished I had a more "exotic" sounding name than Susan. But when you discover it's origins, it really is an exotic name. And I'm happy that I have a family name that goes back generations.
