User-submitted Reference

Many Jews bear family names based on places of origin or residence.

The names in this group could come from Shushan, the ancient capital of the kings of Persia (Dan VIII,2 Esther I,2). The Hebrew "Ben" means "son of" or "from". In medieval Spanish documents, the same names are spelled Abenxuxen, Xixen, Xuxen and Suxen. The names in this group can also be associated with the Hebrew/Arabic "Shoshanah" meaning "rose" or "lily".

One of the many female first names comprising the term for a flower, Shoshanah is referred to in the Ben Sira (the only apocripha in the original Hebrew) XXIV.14. In which it symbolizes joy. In Rabbinical literature, Shoshanah is associated with paradise (Baba Batra 84a). In the Zohar (Book of Splendour) part 1, chapter 4,73, Shoshanah alludes to the glass of salvation and redemption which is drunk at the Passover Seder. The rose of Jericho (Anastatica Hieronchuntica) is the flower of resurrection, symbolizing the revival of Israel. These and other implications have led to this flower being described as "the mystical rose".

One of the first records of names in this group is that of Shelomoh Ben Joseph Ibn Shushan, "Nasi" (leader) of the Toledo Jewish community (Spain) in the 11th century. His son, Joseph Shelomoh Ibn Shushan, was an important figure in the court of Don Alfonso VIII of Castille. Yehouda Hacohen Ben Soussan, who was chief Rabbi of Fez and surnamed "Hagaon Hahassid", came to Morocco from Babylon with his father and was the teacher of Maimonides. He died at the stake for refusing to convert to Islam in 1165.

The spelling Xixen is recorded in Spain with Astruc Jacob Xixen (sometimes spelled Xuxen) in 1262, while Abraham Ibn Shushan, Son of Don Mosse Aben Xuxen was a tax collector in Toledo in the 13th/14th century. Distinguished bearers of Jewish surnames in this group include the 12th/13th- century Spanish Rabbi, poet and patron of the arts Meir Ben Abraham Ben Shushan; the 14th-century Rabbi and theologian Joseph Ibn Shushan, also known as Shoshan; the 16th-century Moroccan Rabbi and mathematician Issachar Ben Mordecai Ibn Susan, also known as Ben Shushan; the 19th/20th century English writer Samuel Levy Bensusan; and the 19th/20th-century Moroccan Rabbi Abraham Ben Susan.

Source: The Memi De-Shalit Database of Jewish Family Names.