An Egyptian lotus and a Hebrew rose

U.S. suffragist and political activist Susan B. Anthony, 1820–1906

Susan, a name most popular from the 1940s–1960s, traces its etymology back to a rather unexpected source—Ancient Egypt. This is one Indo–European name that didn’t originate among the Vikings, Anglo–Saxons, Normans, Goths, Romans, or Greeks.

Sšn means “lotus” in Egyptian, and later morphed into the Ancient Hebrew word shoshan, “lily.” In Modern Hebrew, shoshan means “rose.” It gave rise to the name Shoshanah, and then was adopted by the Greeks as Sousanna.

Over time, it appeared in many European languages in various forms. In the Medieval Anglophone world, Susannah was sometimes used in honour of a woman falsely accused of adultery in the Book of Daniel, and another Biblical woman who ministers to Jesus. Only after the Protestant Reformation did it become more common, in the form of Susan.

French painter Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) with her son Maurice

Susan was #80 when the U.S. began keeping name records in 1880, and left the Top 100 in 1885. It briefly returned in 1887, then dropped out again and gradually sank in popularity. During the 1930s, it slowly made its way back up the chart, and re-entered the Top 100 in 1937 at #97.

In 1945, it was #10, and entered the Top 5 in 1948. Apart from 1951 and 1966, when it was #6, Susan was in the Top 5 until 1968. Its all-time highest rank was #2, from 1957–60. In 1972, it fell off the Top 20, and left the Top 100 in 1985.

Susan’s last year on the Top 1000 was 2017, when it was #957.

Austrian-born painter Soshana Afroyim (née Susanne Schüller),
1927–2015

Other forms of the name include:

1. Suzanne is French, Dutch, and English.

2. Susanna is English, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, Catalan, Swedish, Estonian, and Finnish. The alternate form Súsanna is Icelandic, Faroese, and Irish; Susánna and Susánná are Sami.

3. Susannah is English.

4. Susana is Spanish and Portuguese.

5. Suzana is Serbian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Brazilian–Portuguese, Romanian, and Croatian.

6. Susanne is German and Scandinavian.

7. Syuzanna is old-fashioned Russian.

8. Suzanna is English.

9. Shoshana, or Shoshanah, is Hebrew.

10. Sawsan is Arabic.

Hungarian Princess Zsuzsanna Lorántffy (1602–1660), who founded and sponsored several schools, including schools offering girls a modern, equal education

11. Savsan is Tajik.

12. Sosamma is Malayalam, a language spoken in India.

13. Zsuzsanna is Hungarian.

14. Zuzanna is Polish and Latvian.

15. Zuzana is Czech and Slovak.

16. Huhana is Maori.

17. Zusana is Sorbian.

18. Syzana is Albanian.

19. Siùsan is Scottish.

20. Sósanna is a rare Irish form.

Polish poet Zuzanna Ginczanka, 1917–1945

21. Susaina is a Catalan variant, usually used on Mallorca.

22. Suzannah is English.

23. Suzonne is Norman.

24. Jujen is Marshallese.

25. Siwsan is Welsh.

26. Susane is English.

27. Suusan is Inuit.

28. Suzette is a French diminutive, also used in English as a full name.

29. Suzzanna is a rare English form.

30. Shushan is Armenian.

31. Susano is a male Filipino form.

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Diamond names

Though I personally amn’t that keen on diamonds (I prefer dark stones, and ones without long ad campaigns trying to make the masses believe they’re the be-all and end-all of stones), there are many nice names meaning “diamond.” I’ve also included the words for diamond in other languages, where they sound enough like real names.

Unisex:

Almas is Arabic and Persian.

Dorji is Tibetan.

Kaimana is Hawaiian, and alternately means “ocean/sea power.”

Pich is Khmer.

Almaz is Amharic, Arabic, Ethiopian, Kazakh, Azeri, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Russian, and Ukrainian. It obviously is a very rare name in the two lattermost languages, probably not frequently used by native-born Russians and Ukrainians.

Daiya is Japanese. As with just about all other Japanese names, it can also mean many other things, depending upon the characters used, and which writing system.

Heera is Sanskrit, and also found in the various modern Indian languages.

Timantti is Finnish.

Yahalom is modern Hebrew.

Elmaz is Albanian and Bulgarian.

Male:

Almazbek means “diamond master” in Kyrgyz.

Diamant is Albanian.

Dimants is a rare Latvian name.

Sein is Burmese.

Tserendorj can mean “diamond longevity/long life” in Mongolian.

Watchara is Thai.

Xhevahir is Albanian. The letter XH is pronounced like the J in Jupiter.

Olmos is Uzbek.

Female:

Almast is Armenian.

Diamanto is Greek.

Intan is Malay and Indonesian.

Diamantea is Basque.

Adamantine means “diamond-like” in French.

Alimazi is Amharic.

Birlant means “like a diamond” in Chechen.

Deimantė is Lithuanian. It can also mean “intelligent goddess.”

Diamante is Judeo-Italian.

Gaukhar is Kazakh, and can also mean “precious, brilliant.”

Gewher is Kurdish.

Pharchara is Thai.

Almast is Armenian.

Almasi is Swahili.

Elmas is Turkish.

The Ms of Medieval names

Female:

Madiana (Italian)

Madolina (Italian): Probably a form of Magdalena.

Madore (Italian)

Madrona (Spanish, Catalan): “Lady,” from Latin word matrona.

Magnifica (Italian): “Magnificent, excellent, splendid.”

Malmfred (Scandinavian)

Malore (Italian)

Marquessa (Spanish): “Marquise,” from Old French marchis and markis. The ultimate root is the Old High German word marka (fortified area along a border; march).

Marsibilia (Italian)

Mascarose (Occitan)

Massaria (Italian)

Massipa (Judeo–Catalan): Derived from Christian Catalan surname Massip/Macip, from Latin word mancipium (learner, servant, younger).

Maymuna (Moorish Arabic): “Blessed, prosperous, thriving.”

Melior (English): “Better,” from a Latin word with that meaning. The modern form is Meliora.

Melisende (French): Form of Millicent, derived from Ancient Germanic name Amalasuintha. Its roots are amal (labour, work) and swinth (strong).

Memorantia (English and Dutch): “Remembering,” from the Latin word.

Merewen, Merwenn, Merewynn (English): “Famous joy,” from Old English name Mærwynn. Its roots are mær (famous) and wynn (joy).

Merilda (English): Form of Old English name Mærhild.

Midonia (Italian)

Militsa (Slavic): “Gracious,” from root milu. It was originally a nickname for names beginning in Mil-. Its modern form is Milica (Slovenian, Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian).

Mirea (Judeo–Catalan): “Myrrh,” from Ladino (Judeo–Spanish) mira; a variation of popular Catalan name Mira (notable); or a nickname for Miriam,

Mireti (Moorish Arabic)

Miriana (English)

Munisa (Arabic): This is also a modern Uzbek, Bosnian, and Tajik name.

Muscata (Italian): “Nutmeg.”

Mutayyam (Moorish Arabic): “Captive of love.”

Muzna (Moorish Arabic): “Cloud, rain.”

Male:

Mechislav (Slavic): “Sword of glory,” from roots mechi and slava. The modern form is Mieczysław (Polish). The original form is a rare modern Russian name. Like all names ending in -slav, -mir, and -mil, it can become a female name by adding an A to the end.

Merkel (Silesian–German): Nickname for Markward, which ultimately descends from Ancient Germanic name Marcaward. Its roots are Celtic marca and Old High German marah (horse), or marka (border), and Old High German wart (guard).

Metfried (German): From roots maht (strength, might) and frid (peace).

Mezamir (Slavic): “Great boundary,” “Boundary of peace,” or “Boundary of the world,” from a Proto–Slavic root meaning “limit, boundary, landmark” (which evolved into Old Church Slavonic mežda), and mer (famous, great) or mir (peace, world).

Milogost (Slavic): “Gracious guest,” from roots milu (dear, gracioius) and gosti. The modern form is Miłogost (Polish).

Miqueu (Occitan): Form of Michael (Who is like God?). This is also the modern Gascon form.

Mundi (Swedish and Norman): Nickname for Old Norse Agmundr, derived from elements ag (edge of a sword) or agi (terror, awe), and mundr (protection).

Mundir (Moorish Arabic): “Cautioner, warner.”

Munio (Basque): The feminine form was Munia.

Mundzuk (Turkic): Possibly “bead, jewel,” from root mončuq.

Pumpkin names

Continuing with the theme of Halloween names, here’s a list of words meaning “pumpkin.” Most of these aren’t used as names in their respective languages of origin, and so might work better on a pet or fictional character. Some, however, might work as names on real humans.

I left out words that didn’t sound so much like they could double as names. For example, the Korean word “hobag” would NOT be a good idea in an Anglophone country!

Bostan is Romanian.

Calabaza is Spanish.

Carbassa is Catalan.

Kabak is Turkish and Ukrainian.

Kabocha is Japanese.

Kaddi is Nepali.

Kaddu is Hindi.

Kadu is Tajik.

Kalabasa is Cebuano, an Austronesian language spoken in The Philippines. This is also the Filipino word.

Kalabaza is Basque.

Kara Safra is one of the Arabic words for pumpkin. In this case, it literally means “yellow gourd.”

Kukurbo is Esperanto.

Nangua is Mandarin Chinese.

Taub is Hmong. This is a female name.

Tikva is Bosnian, Bulgarian, and Macedonian. This is an entirely separate name from the Hebrew name Tikva(h), which means “hope.”

Tykva is Russian.