Anna
Anna Name Meaning, Origin & Popularity
AN-ah
Meaning of Anna: Anna is the Latin and Greek form of the Hebrew name Hannah, derived from the root chanan, meaning grace, favour, or God has been gracious. The name passed into Christian naming through Greek and Latin scriptural translation, where Hannah became Anna across the Septuagint and the Vulgate.
The New Testament introduces Anna as a prophetess in Luke 2:36-38. She recognised the infant Jesus in the Temple and gave public thanks, becoming one of the first figures to proclaim his identity. According to etymology records, the Gospel account drove early Christian adoption of the name.
Catholic and Orthodox tradition further embedded Anna through Saint Anne, the name assigned to the mother of the Virgin Mary. Though unnamed in canonical scripture, Saint Anne became a major devotional figure in medieval Europe. Her cult fixed Anna as a default girl name in parish registers.
What Does Anna Mean? Origin & Etymology
European royal houses used Anna across England, Russia, Austria, Denmark, and France. Anna of Russia ruled as empress from 1730 to 1740, and Anna Comnena wrote the Alexiad in 12th century Byzantium. These anchors gave the name dynastic weight that carried through to modern European naming conventions.
Literary figures reinforced its cultural profile. Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (1877) and L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908) fixed Anna in Russian and North American reading lists. The name gained a quiet, resilient character through both heroines, adding literary depth to its biblical foundation.
United States SSA records at ssa.gov show Anna at #94 in 2024. Notably, Anna has never left the US top 100 in 145 years of SSA records since 1880. Its two-syllable palindrome structure and near-universal intelligibility across European languages drive that unbroken run.
How Popular Is Anna?
Numerology & Symbolism of Anna
Based on Pythagorean numerology — a traditional system linking name letters to numbers. Presented for cultural interest.
Anna – Similar Names & Alternatives
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Frequently Asked Questions about Anna
What does the name Anna mean?
Anna means "grace" or "God has been gracious," from Hebrew Hannah, rooted in chanan (to be gracious or favor). The Latin and Greek form Anna was adopted through scriptural translation and became the standard Western form of the name in Christian tradition.
Is Anna a biblical name?
How popular is Anna in the United States?
Anna ranked 58th for girls in the US in 2024. It has never left the US top 100 in 145 years of Social Security Administration records -- a distinction shared by very few names. It peaked near rank 8 in the 1880s and has maintained remarkable stability across every generation since.
How is Anna different from Hannah?
Anna is the Latin and Greek form of the Hebrew name Hannah. Hannah retains the original Hebrew h sounds at the start and end. Anna dropped those aspirated consonants through Greek and Latin translation. Both names mean the same thing -- grace or divine favor -- but they have followed somewhat different cultural paths.
What are names similar to Anna?
Anna – Name Variants & Spellings
| Variant | Language |
|---|---|
| Ane | Basque/Danish |
| Ann | English short form |
| Hannah | English/Hebrew full form |
| Anni | Finnish/Hungarian/German |
| Annette | French diminutive |
| Anne | French/English/German |
| Hanna | German/Scandinavian/Hebrew |
| Anya | Russian diminutive |
| Anita | Spanish/Portuguese diminutive |
| Ana | Spanish/Portuguese/Romanian |