This very interesting name is a dialectal variant of the original personal name "Shushannah", meaning "the lily" and found in the modern spelling of Susan. This is one of the many personal names introduced into England following "The Crusader" of the 11th - 14th Century, and in the course of time the personal name was also adopted as a surname. The name also developed a form of patronymic or matronymic, "the son (or daughter) of Susan", (Susans) plus local variant such as Susan (Kent-Sussex) where "N" and "M" are interchanged, Sussans, Sussems, etc.. Recordings include Alice Susaum of Stepney in 1631, Patience Sussaus of St. Botolphs, London in 1690, James Sussams in St. Mary Le Bone (1812), whilst James Sussems is also recorded at St. Mary Le Bone on November 12th 1820. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Susann, which was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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