I’m now expecting her little sister, and was so glad to find Appelation Mountain — DH and I are feeling much more *stuck* with names for the third child (our oldest is Jonas Patrick). I love your NoTDs – thanks for posting this wonderful resource!

The nickname that felt the most me and became almost all I was known by in college was Zanna. I was also Sanna a bit as a baby. My dad called me Susannie as a little kid, occasionally shortened to Annie. My mom calls me Sus, pronounced like Dr. Suess (my mom spoke a little german – its the german word for sweet). I’ve been Suz, of course, and briefly Susie which I totally HATED. I also had a fun teacher in high school who called me Oh which was funny and stuck for a bit. But I do get really sick of hearing that song!

I love having a unique name, but one that everyone can pronounce as soon as they see it (sometimes the A becomes an ahh instead, like most European languages do, but I don’t mind). Spelling is a bit of a bother, since there are a lot of variations.

I knew a girl in her early twenties named Susannah who went by Zannah — I much prefer it to Suzie, and with Hannah’s popularity, it’s sounds very fresh and modern.

Thanks for covering this one! I was shocked when I discovered neither Susanna nor Susannah were in the top 1000, but that’s such a strong argument for using it — it’s so familiar, yet so uncommon. Susana (the Spanish spelling) just barely squeaks into the top 1000, coming in at slot #993. Apparently the name is more often heard among members of the Spanish speaking community.

Lola, here’s wishing you a fabulously named grandchild someday! BTW, your Leo is on the list for 10/20 and Josephine for 10/11.

Kim, I’m sure you could pull the Anne/Anna out of Susannah! Of course, there’s also Sanna, which I disliked when I first heard, until I realized it tracked back to this lovely name.

And Katharine, you’re right – Susannah doesn’t age.

Another, I’m sure this one feels common because it’s in pop culture – Oh! Susanna and so on. Plus *all* those Susans, Suzannes and so on.

Dana, what a heartbreaking story! But it does give the name more of that pioneer, can-do spirit.

On Susanna’s side is her lack of age – like Vanessa, Helena and Miranda – she defies age and sounds at once classical yet fresh. For me, her main drawback is the potential nicknames Suzie and Sukie – which just reminds me of the nursery rhyme where ”Sukie puts the kettle on’!