Sue

What does Sue mean?

Sue means “lily” through Susan and Susanna. It is the short English form of those names, whose history runs through Greek Sousanna to Hebrew Shoshanna. The Hebrew flower word shoshan supplies the familiar meaning.

With three letters and one syllable, Sue is one of the most compact members of this large name family. It has also been used independently for generations, with a particularly strong American presence in the middle of the twentieth century.

A flower name with biblical roots

Susanna appears in biblical tradition, including the story in which Daniel exposes the false accusations made against a woman of that name. A Susanna also appears in the New Testament among the women who supported Jesus's ministry.

The name reached English through its Greek and Latin forms. It was used occasionally during the Middle Ages and became more common after the Protestant Reformation. Susan became the usual English spelling from the eighteenth century.

The flower word itself may reach further back to an Egyptian word for “lotus.” Sue's established English meaning remains lily, carried through the longer Susan and Susanna forms.

Sue Grafton and detective fiction

Novelist Sue Grafton gives the name a lasting literary association. She introduced private investigator Kinsey Millhone in A Is for Alibi in 1982, beginning the Alphabet Series of mysteries.

The first book follows Millhone as she reopens a murder case after the convicted woman, Nikki Fife, hires her to find the killer. Its California investigator became the continuing center of the series, with the alphabet providing the organizing pattern for its titles.

Grafton's career earned recognition from crime-writing organizations, including the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master honor. Her author name places Sue firmly within modern American detective fiction.

Sue Bird and basketball

Basketball player Sue Bird supplies a prominent sporting connection. She won four WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm and two NCAA titles with the University of Connecticut, in 2000 and 2002.

Her international career included five Olympic gold medals, culminating at the Tokyo Games held in 2021. Bird and Diana Taurasi became the first basketball players to win five Olympic golds. Bird also earned four world championship gold medals, extending that record of success across several kinds of competition.

Pronunciation and related names

Sue is pronounced SOO, rhyming with blue. Susan has two syllables, while Susanna has three in English, making Sue a substantially shorter everyday form of either.

Susie, Suzy, Suzi, and Suzie are related familiar forms. Suzanne and Susannah belong to the wider family, and Shoshana preserves a Hebrew form closer to the original flower name.

Sue in the United States

Sue reached its best American girls' rank, No. 61, in 1946. Its largest annual count followed in 1947, with 5,306 babies. It ranked No. 9,384 in 2025, placing its strongest period as an independently recorded first name in the mid-century years.

How popular is Sue?

In 2025, Sue ranked #9,384 among girls in the United States, with 11 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1880; its largest annual count was 5,306 in 1947. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.