Shoshanna is from Hebrew and means lily or rose, a floral name with biblical-era roots.
Shoshanna is the original, unmediated Hebrew form of one of history's most traveled names. Derived from the Hebrew "shoshanah" (שׁוֹשַׁנָּה), it means "lily" — though some scholars argue its deeper Semitic root points to "rose" — and appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name behind the Greek Sousanna and the Latin Susanna. The story of Susanna in the Book of Daniel, in which a virtuous woman is falsely accused and vindicated, gave the name its early Christian currency and carried it into virtually every European language.
While its Western derivatives — Susan, Susannah, Suzanne — dominated English usage for centuries, Shoshanna remained in living, vibrant use within Jewish communities, preserving the original Hebrew intact. It carries the weight of generations of Ashkenazi and Sephardic tradition, appearing in prayers, poetry, and the beloved folk song "Hava Nagila," whose melody is drawn from a Hasidic niggun. The name also surfaces in Israeli given-name culture, where Hebrew originals are prized over diaspora adaptations.
In contemporary usage Shoshanna has stepped into a broader cultural spotlight, borne by artists, writers, and characters in popular media — including a character in the acclaimed HBO series "Girls." Its full, unabbreviated form feels richly literary and historically resonant without being archaic, offering parents a name of genuine depth whose floral meaning, biblical lineage, and phonetic beauty have proven genuinely timeless.