How to say it
AN · na
/ˈæn.ə/
Feminine
Anna
Favor, grace
What it means
Latin and Greek form of Hebrew Channah (Hannah), 'favor' or 'grace.' One of the most cross-culturally translated names in the Western tradition.
Anna is the Latin and Greek form of the Hebrew Channah (Hannah). The New Testament prophetess Anna recognized the infant Jesus at the temple (Luke 2:36). The name passed into nearly every European language with minimal change: Anna in Russian, Italian, German, Polish, Swedish; Anne in English and French; Ana in Spanish and Portuguese. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) and Anne Frank gave the name two of literature's most-quoted entries. The straight Anna spelling has been in the US top 50 for most of the past century. Annie is the standard short.
Popularity over time
peaked at #2 in 1880, currently #107 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Annie is the universal short and a fully separate identity in many families.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Anna Karenina Title character of Tolstoy's 1878 novel
- Anne Frank German-Jewish diarist of the Holocaust, 1929-1945 (Anne spelling)
- Anna Wintour British-American editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988
Spelling variants
- Anne
- Ana
- Hannah
- Annie
Names with the same feeling
See Anna from another angle
By meaning
By style