If you saw box office smash Inglorious Basterds, you heard fictional Nazi bad guy Hans Landa call out this name in a grisly, memorable opening sequence.
If Stella is a star, why not Shoshanna? Thanks to Serenity for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
Shoshannah, Shoshanna, or Shoshana is closer to the original Hebrew form of Susannah. The sho became a sou in Greek, hence all those girls (and possibly one boy) named Sue – and Susanna, Suzanne, Susan, and so on.
The Biblical figure was a virtuous woman falsely accused of adultery. Daniel helps clear her name; the story appears in the Book of Daniel, but only in some versions. It’s not considered part of the cannon by most Protestants.
But you could consider Shoshanna a Biblical babe, an Old Testament appellation with ancient roots. Better still, she’s botanical – the name derives from the Hebrew word shoshan – lily. Some suggest that she can be traced back to the Egyptian word for lotus, and in modern Hebrew, she’s often translated as rose.
If you met a Shoshanna born in the twentieth century, she was almost certainly Jewish and possibly Israeli. Shoshana Damari was a famous Israeli singer in the 1940s, best remembered for her song “Kalaniyot.” For yet another floral hook, the lyrics are about a girl gathering anemones.
American parents might think of Shoshanna Lonstein. She made waves in the 1990s when she started dating king-of-the-small-screen comic Jerry Seinfeld. Shoshanna was all of seventeen; Seinfeld was, well, older.
More recently, the small screen has given us Shoshannah Stern. You might remember her turn as Silas’ girlfriend in the early seasons of Weeds on Showtime.
Then came Quentin Tarantino. He worked on Inglorious Basterds for more than a decade before its 2009 release. A 1977 Italian film shares the name and a few similarities, but mostly this is Tarantino’s huge, violent rewrite of World War II history, where the good guys manage to auf a big chunk of the Nazi leadership – including the Führer – thanks to a lovely young French theater owner – who is actually a lovely young Jewish woman on the run after her entire family has been slaughtered.
Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of Hans Landa was the Cannes/Oscar winner role, but Shoshanna becomes the heroine of the piece, a farmer’s daughter who has lost everything and figures out how to get spectacular revenge. Mélanie Laurent played Shosanna, and the false identity she assumed – Emmanuelle Mimieux. Laurent is big news in Europe, where she’s a past Romy award winner, but this was her first major role in the US.
Nicknames abound – Sosie and Sanne spring to mind, but doubtless there are more.
The lingering question isn’t really about Shoshannah’s sound – she’d fit with Savannah and Isabella just fine. While she’s never made the US Top 1000, she’s not completely unfamiliar. The question is, much like it could be tough to be an Ingrid if your roots aren’t Scandinavian, can you be Shoshanna if you’re not even a little bit Jewish?
I love it! I don’t think it’s that strange for a non-Jew to use it. Like you said, it’s in the Christian Bible, too (at lest some versions of it), so it’s Biblical, and no less weird than Rachel or Daniel.
I’ve never heard of Shoshanna before, but I like it! 🙂 Very pretty and feminine, yet it seems to have some strength behind it.
I think that what differentiates Shoshanna from names like Jacob is that it’s the Hebrew version of a name (Susannah/Susan/Suzanne) already used by people of various faiths. Jacob, a non-Jew could easily use — but Yaakov? To me, at least, a non-Jewish Yaakov or Shoshanna would seem weird.
I do think it’s a very pretty name, though. In my opinion, it fits in with the likes of Angeline and Theodora — lush yet demure. Hm…maybe I get this image from the juxtaposition of a flowy,feminine sound with religious associations?
That’s a nice point – I would be stunned to meet a non-Jewish Yaakov.
Friends of mine are thinking about Evangeline for a daughter – I’d add that one to your Angeline/Theodora list, and I do like them all!
I really like Shoshannah. Very pretty, soft and feminine.
It seems both very Jewish and very Protestant to me at the same time. There are some sects of Protestantism that really use a lot of names that most would deem very Jewish, and I’d see it working that way…
Part of me wants to like the name – I do think Susanna is pretty – but I almost feel as if I’ve got a bit of a speech impediment when saying it. Like I mean to be saying Susanna and it gets all stuck in my mouth.
my Mennonite great-grandfather was named Isaac and it crops up from time to time in the family tree, along with Reuben, Ezra, Peter, Aaron, Mary, Paul, Simon, Rebecca and Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist!) and other Biblical favourites as well as some more traditionally German names like Cornelius, Minna (German for “love”), Caroline and Heinrich.
I’m not a huge fan of Shoshanna but it’s the repeated “sh” sounds that turn me off the name.
I think of Seinfeld’s wife first.
I’m in agreement – it’s a very Jewish sounding name to me…. that said, there are other names that were once considered the same that I see used more and more, regardless of religion. For example, I love the sound of Shoshanna, but would feel a little odd seriously considering it (I am not Jewish; was raised Methodist, but it never really took… so as an adult, religiously, I identify as nothing in particular). But I would (and did) keep Isaac around. Somehow it doesn’t feel so exclusively Jewish. I can’t explain why. I know a bunch of little Jacobs, most are not Jewish, but previously, I think, this is a name that would have been considered very linked to the Jewish community. Same goes with girls my age called Rebecca/Rebekkah. If I see it with a k, I think it links it to the Jewish community more; I’ve known a lot of Rebeccas/Rebekkahs et. al. and only some were Jewish.
I could see people looking past (or overlooking as Photoquilty mentions) the religious association with Shoshanna and like Rebecca and Jacob, it could become popular with people with all kinds of religious backgrounds.
JNE, you’ve raised an interesting thought. One of the things that intrigues me is parents who want spiritual names – even though they don’t necessarily identify with a specific faith tradition. It’s not completely crazy – you can take classes on the Bible as Literature – but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to grow up with a name that implied you were something, only to be completely not that.
The only Rebekah I know is Catholic – the youngest of five. I know one of her brothers is Jacob, and it strikes me that Jacob qualifies as another name that once would’ve been exclusively Jewish. And now screams werewolf …
Not that it’s quite the same, but I’ve repeatedly had it happen that people assume I’m Chinese-American by my first name (if they haven’t met me in person). My freshman year roommate in college was totally floored when she saw me for the first time – she was so convinced I was Asian based on the name. It’s a little different than a religious faith, but I’ve never found it much of a here nor there in my life. I supposed it depends on the person, though.
I’m Rebekah! 🙂 And Protestant. My parents simply felt that since that was how the Bible spelled it, that’s how they would spell it. Plus, I think it’s way prettier. haha . I hate Rebecca, but love Rebekah. Weird, no?
I don’t think anyone who is non-Jewish could reallly pull off Shoshanna. As photoquility said, it’s like the ultimate Jewish name. ANn the anglo variation is right there and accessible, so it makes Shoshanna seem even more untouchable.
For me, Shoshanna is almost too sexy for a child. I wonder if it is the Lolita-esque connotation of Shoshana Lonstein and her line of clothes for the well-endowed that make it feel that way, or just the lush sound.
To me, this is the Ultimate Jewish Name. I wouldn’t use it and I am Jewish. However, I think that most gentiles wouldn’t recognize its Jewishness, just like they don’t realize Cohen is Jewish, too. Call it ignorance, whatever.
I don’t think this name is reserved for Jews, though. It just screams Jewish to me, like Ezra or Isaac.
True, but I can think of at least one Ezra and more than one Isaac who are anything BUT Jewish.
I get the hesitation with Cohen, but with Shoshana I wonder if it is more a case of name that hasn’t yet been borrowed by gentiles, like Rachel or Rebecca up until the Reformation.
I personally find Shoshanna so lush and pretty. I know a Shoshanna and she’s Jewish. She goes by Shosh. There’s also the dress company Shoshanna: https://www.shoshanna.com/ Oh and I love your reference to “A Boy Named Sue” 🙂
I’ve known several Sannes and a few Susannas, but the only Shoshanna I’ve ever encountered is Tarantino’s creation. It’s a beautiful name, but I don’t think our family could pull it off.
Incidentally, in Luke 8:3 a woman named Susanna is mentioned as being a follower and supporter of Jesus.