| Shira | Susannah | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | song | Lily |
| Origin | hebrew | hebrew |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | SHEE-rah | soo-ZAN-uh |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1941 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2009 (159) | 1975 (152) |
| In 2025 | 79 | 0 |
| Trend | Declining | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Shira | Susannah |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 430 | 371 |
| 2010s | 861 | 831 |
| 2000s | 1,324 | 953 |
| 1990s | 988 | 1,242 |
| 1980s | 1,182 | 1,226 |
| 1970s | 650 | 1,422 |
| 1960s | 224 | 758 |
| 1950s | 131 | 320 |
| 1940s | 25 | 253 |
| 1930s | 0 | 137 |
| 1920s | 0 | 99 |
| 1910s | 0 | 74 |
| 1900s | 0 | 33 |
| 1890s | 0 | 31 |
| 1880s | 0 | 34 |
Modern Hebrew shira, 'song, singing, poetry' (root sh-y-r). A popular contemporary given name; a concrete noun with no theophoric element.
From Hebrew 'shoshannah', from 'shoshan' meaning 'lily' (in modern Hebrew the same word can mean 'rose'). Reaches English via Greek 'Sousanna'. The original biblical sense is 'lily'.
Shira is more popular than Susannah today: about 79 US babies were given the name Shira in 2025, compared with 0 named Susannah.
Shira means song (hebrew origin), while Susannah means Lily (hebrew origin).
In US records, Shira first appears in 1941 and Susannah in 0, so Susannah has the longer recorded history.