A soybean variety designated SN97-6946, the plants and seeds of soybean variety SN97-6946, methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing the variety SN97-6946 with itself or with another soybean plant, and hybrid soybean seeds and plants produced by crossing the variety SN97-6946 with another soybean line or plant, and the creation of variants by mutagenesis or by transformation of variety SN97-6946. This invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean varieties or breeding lines derived from soybean variety SN97-6946 and to soybean varieties or breeding lines produced by those methods.