Sue

Did you know?

A few things about Sue you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Sue

Sue Grafton

American writer from Kentucky (1940-2017)

Choose Sue and your child shares a first name with Sue Grafton, an American writer from Kentucky. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Sue, like who?” Sue Grafton's Wikipedia article is available in 43 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Sue Grafton on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Mark Coggins from San Francisco, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 147,059 baby girls born in the US in 2025 was named Sue, 11 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Sue would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistorySue has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Sues, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1946, when it ranked #61. Today it's #8,860, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📉Then vs nowSue was 2.9× more common in 2000 than it is today. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 50,505 baby girls; in 2025, about 1 in 147,059.
• 💬MeaningSue is an English form of Susan, which means “lily”. Our records link it to American, English and Hebrew roots.

About the name Sue

Sue is a girl name of American, English and Hebrew origin meaning “lily”. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with S and ending in “-sue”. US birth records list Sue for girls from 1880 to 2025, in 145 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1946, when it ranked #61 among girl names. In 2025 it ranked #8,860, with 11 babies.

Origin:American namesEnglish namesHebrew namesLatin names