It originated in the late eighteenth century in the area of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, as a result of cross-breeding when Norfolk Horn ewes were put to improved Southdown rams.

[4]: 923  By the end of the nineteenth century the Suffolk had displaced the Oxford Down as the principal terminal sire used on cross-bred ewes in Scotland.

By the 1980s breed numbers in the United Kingdom had risen to some 500000 head, but later fell;[4]: 923  in 2020 a total population of 14266 was reported.

[2] The Suffolk has been exported to many countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States, and has become one of the most numerous sheep breeds in the world.

[7] Suffolk rams are commonly used as a terminal sire on cross-bred ewes to produce fast-growing lambs for slaughter.