Suha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "clarity" or "brightness".
Name Census estimates that about 480 living Americans carry the first name Suha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Suha today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Suha births was 2008 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Suha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Suha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
480
~ 1 in 714,072 Americans
Peak year
2008
27 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,956
Tracked since 1973
Census
Suha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,265 people with the first name Suha, which placed it at #10,509 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,509
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,265 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Suha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suha is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.5%) and Black (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Suha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Suha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.1% · 862
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.5% · 284
- Black or African American4.2% · 53
- Two or more races3.7% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Suha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Suha from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 194 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Suha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Suha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Suhas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Suha, while Texas, California, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Suha
The name Suha is of Arabic origin and traces its roots back to ancient times. It is derived from the Arabic word "sahw," which means "desert" or "wilderness," signifying a connection to the arid landscapes and nomadic cultures of the Middle East.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Suha can be found in ancient Arabic poetry and literature, where it was often used to describe the beauty and resilience of desert flowers that bloomed amidst the harsh conditions of the arid regions.
In the 7th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Suha bint Husayn, a renowned female scholar and poet from the early Islamic era. She was revered for her knowledge and contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of her time.
Throughout history, the name Suha has been associated with individuals who have left their mark in various fields. One notable figure was Suha Arafat (1963-2017), the wife of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who played a significant role in Palestinian politics and activism.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Suha Arraf (1944-2005), a Palestinian filmmaker and writer known for her critically acclaimed works that explored themes of identity, displacement, and the Palestinian experience.
In the field of literature, Suha Bashren (1976-), a Sudanese novelist and short story writer, has gained recognition for her powerful narratives that shed light on the complexities of societal norms and gender dynamics in the Middle East.
Suha Özkan (1972-), a Turkish architect and academic, has made significant contributions to the field of sustainable architecture, promoting environmentally conscious design principles and the preservation of cultural heritage.
While the name Suha has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and found resonance across various communities, evoking a sense of resilience, beauty, and connection to the natural world.
People
Suha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Suha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Suha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Suha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 480 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Suha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 714,072 US residents.
Is Suha a common name?
We classify Suha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 493 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Suha most popular?
The single biggest year for Suha was 2008, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Suha is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Suha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,265 people with the name Suha, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,509 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Suha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Suha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Suha leans strongly female. 1,219 people counted with this name were female (96.4%), compared with 46 male bearers (3.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Suha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suha is White at 68.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.5%) and Black (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Suha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Suha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.1% (862 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Suha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Suha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Suha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Suha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Suha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Suha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Suha?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Suha at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.