The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Susan!

Comments and insights on the name Susan: | Edit

"Susan . . . it wasn't a good name, was it? It wasn't a truly bad name like poor Iodine in the fourth form, or Nigella, a name which meant "oops, we wanted a boy." But it was dull. Susan. Sue. Good old Sue. It was a name that made sandwiches, kept its head in difficult circumstances, and could reliably look after other people's children.
It was a name used by no queens or goddesses anywhere.
And you couldn't do much even with the spelling. You could turn it into Suzi, and it sounded as though you danced on tables for a living. You could put in a Z and a couple of Ns and and E, but it still looked like a name with extensions built on. It was as bad as Sara, a name that cried out for a prosthetic H."

~ Terry Pratchett, Soul Music

Personal experiences with the name Susan: | Edit

My name is Susan.... and I actually like it. Very rarely was there another Susan in my classrooms. I felt unique. I perfer to go by Susie. My family members and all of my close friends call me Susie. In my opinion the name Susan is not dull - It's up to the person to give meaning to his or her name - to make themselves interesting - so when a person hears the name Susan - he or she thinks of the person associated with the name and it brings a smile to his or her face. Afterall, I've never been good at making sandwiches, keeping a level head, or taking care of other people's children - so we can't really use names to define the character of others.

I have a Grandma Sue who's always competing with my other grandma to see which one could finally be the "Thin Grandma" and opposed to the "Fat Grandma", haha.

Nicknames for Susan: | Edit

Sue, Susie, Susie-Q, Sukey, Suze, ZuZu; Suki, Sammy

Meanings and history of the name Susan: | Edit

From Hebrew, means "Lily"

Famous real-life people named Susan: | Edit

Susan B. Anthony, american suffragette/women's civil rights leader
Susan Anton, actress
Susan Dey, actress and model
Susan George, actress
Sue Grafton, author
Susan Hayward, actress
Susan Helms, astronaut
Susan Lucci, actress
Susan Powter, fitness guru
Susan Sarandon, actress
Susan Sontag, writer
Susan St. James, actress

Susan in song, story & screen: | Edit

Runaround Sue, Dion
Susan's Song, Al Jarreau
A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash
Susie Q, song by Dale Hawkins, later covered by Credence Clearwater Revival and others.
Su-Su-Sudio;
Wake Up Little Susie, song by The Everly Brothers
Siouxie & the Banshees;
Susan Pevensie, Oldest girl in the Pevensie family,
C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
Susan Storm, the Invisible Girl of the Fantastic Four (Marvel Comics character)