| Yael | Susannah | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | ibex, mountain goat | Lily |
| Origin | hebrew | hebrew |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | yah-EL | soo-ZAN-uh |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1954 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2022 (166) | 1975 (152) |
| In 2025 | 127 | 0 |
| Trend | Rising | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Yael | Susannah |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 842 | 371 |
| 2010s | 1,117 | 831 |
| 2000s | 884 | 953 |
| 1990s | 605 | 1,242 |
| 1980s | 522 | 1,226 |
| 1970s | 359 | 1,422 |
| 1960s | 154 | 758 |
| 1950s | 18 | 320 |
| 1940s | 0 | 253 |
| 1930s | 0 | 137 |
| 1920s | 0 | 99 |
| 1910s | 0 | 74 |
| 1900s | 0 | 33 |
| 1890s | 0 | 31 |
| 1880s | 0 | 34 |
From Hebrew ya'el, 'ibex' — a nimble, sure-footed wild mountain goat. The same name as the heroine Jael, who killed Sisera (Judges 4-5). A concrete noun; the 'strength of God' gloss seen on some sites is not the standard derivation.
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'.
Yael is more popular than Susannah today: about 127 US babies were given the name Yael in 2025, compared with 0 named Susannah.
Yael means ibex, mountain goat (hebrew origin), while Susannah means Lily (hebrew origin).
In US records, Yael first appears in 1954 and Susannah in 0, so Susannah has the longer recorded history.