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 [ 2 syll. an-na, ann-a ] The girl name Anna is pronounced as AENah KEY. Anna is used predominantly in Czech, English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, Spanish, Breton, Catalan, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, and French. Its origin is Old Greek and Hebrew. From Old Greek and Hebrew roots, its meaning is God was gracious, God has shown favor - in this context, Anna is usually used in the Breton, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, and Slavic languages. Biblical name derived from the word 'channah' with the meaning grace, favor. Anna (Latin and Old Greek) was originally the Greek or Latin form of Channah (Hebrew) or Hannah. In the Old Testament of the Bible, Hannah was the mother of the prophet Samuel. In the New Testament, Anna was a devout Jewish prophetess who prophesied about Jesus. Anna also appeared in Virgil's Aeneid (1st century BC) as the name of the sister of Dido, Queen of Carthage. According to an apocryphal gospel as well as tradition, Saint Anna was also the mother of the Virgin Mary; she was particularly venerated in the Byzantine Empire, which made the name popular there. The name later spread to Russia, and then to France after King Henry I married the Russian princess Anna Yaroslavna (1024-1075) in the 11th century. The name was popular with the Russian and European royal families, and it was subsequently adopted in many European countries. Among English speakers, the name came into general use in the 18th century, together with the forms Ann and Anne. The name was later known from the titular heroine of the novel Anna Karenina (1873-1877) by the Russian writer Tolstoy. The name Anna is widely used; it has 132 variants that are used in both English and other languages. English variants of Anna include Anh, Anie, Ann (also used in Greek), Annah, Anne (also used in French and German), Annelle, Channa (also used in Yiddish), Han (also used in Chinese), Hana (also used in Czech, Polish, Slavic, Yiddish, and Japanese), Hanah, Hania (also used in Polish and Hebrew), Hanna (also used in Dutch, Finnish, German, Latvian, Polish, Scandinavian, and Ukrainian), Hannah (also used in French, German, Hebrew, and Yiddish), Hanni (also used in Finnish and German), Hannie (also used in Dutch), Hanny, Honna, Nan, Nana (also used in Spanish and Japanese), Nanci, Nanna (also used in Scandinavian), Nanney, Nanny, Nina (also used in Hungarian, Catalan, Czech, French, Hebrew, Indian, Russian, Slavic, Spanish, Polish, German, and Italian), Nita (also used in Spanish and Indian), Ona (also used in Lithuanian), Oni, and Shahana. Other English forms include the pet forms Anette (also used in French), Anique (also used in Dutch and ), Anita (also used in Spanish), Anneka (also used in German, and Scandinavian), Anni (also used in Finnish, and German), Annie, Anny (also used in Polish), and Nancy, and the spelling variant Ana (also used in Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Spanish). Variants of the name used in other languages include Aina (Finnish, Scandinavian, and Catalan), Anaëlle (French), Anais (French), Anaïs (French), Anci (Hungarian), Andula (Czech), Andulka (Czech), Anicka (Czech), Anicuta (Romanian), Anikke (Lithuanian), Anina (Czech and Italian), Anine (French), Anitte (German), Annchen (German), Annemiek (Dutch), Annetta (Italian), Annick (Breton), Annicka (Scandinavian), Anniken (Scandinavian), Annikki (Finnish), Annina (German and Italian), Annine (German), Annukka (Finnish), Annus (Hungarian), Annushka (Russian), Annuska (Hungarian and Russian), Annze (Lithuanian), Anoesj (Dutch), Anouska (Dutch), Ans (Dutch), Anu (Estonian and Finnish), Anuska (Czech), Anyuta (Latvian), Asenka (Latvian and Russian), Aska (Latvian), Asya (Latvian, Lithuanian, and Russian), Ayn (Russian), Chana (Yiddish, Hebrew, and Spanish), Channah (Hebrew), Hajna (Hungarian), Hani (Finnish), Hanicka (Czech), Hanka (Czech and Polish), Hanne (German and Scandinavian), Hannele (Finnish and German), Hanski (Finnish), Hena (Yiddish), Henda (Yiddish), Hendel (Yiddish), Hene (Yiddish), Henna (Finnish), Henye (Yiddish), Nani (Greek and Hawaiian), Nettchen (German), Ninacska (Hungarian), Ninon (French), Ninoshka (Russian), Noula (Greek), Nusi (Hungarian), Nyura (Russian), and Panni (Hungarian). Specific foreign variants include the pet forms Ane (Hawaiian, Scandinavian, and Tongan), Anett (French), Ania (Polish and Russian), Anica (Slavic and Spanish), Anika (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), Anike (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), Aniko (Hungarian), Aninka (Czech), Anja (German), Anka (German and Polish), Anke (German), Annag (Scottish), Anneke (Dutch), Anneli (German), Annelie (German), Annely (German), Annet (Dutch), Annett (French), Annette (French), Annica (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), Anniina (Finnish), Annik (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), Annika (Dutch, Finnish, German, and Scandinavian), Annike (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), Anouchka (French), Anouk (Dutch and French), Anouschka (German), Antje (Dutch, Frisian, and German), Anula (Polish), Anushka (Russian), Anusia (Polish), Anya (Latvian, Lithuanian, and Russian), Nanette (French), and Nanni (German). In addition, Anna is a pet form (Czech, English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish) of the name Anastasia (English, German, Greek, and Russian). See also the related forms, Annabella (English, German, and Italian), Annalena (German), Annaliese (English, German, and Scandinavian), Annamaria (German and Italian), Ayana (English and Somali), Breeanna (English), Christianna (English), Jillanna (English), Keanna (English), Kianna (Hawaiian and English), Marianne (English, French, and German), Pollyanna (English), Quanna (English), Rosanna (English, German, and Italian), and Saranna (English). Anna is a very popular baby girl name. At the peak of its usage in 1901, 1.936% of baby girls were named Anna. It had a ranking of #3 then. The baby name has experienced a loss in popularity since then, and it is used on a modest scale in recent times. In 2008, its usage was only 0.348% and its ranking #26, but it was nevertheless the 2nd most popular after Hannah (English, French, German, Hebrew, and Yiddish), out of all girl names in its family. In 2008, it was more frequently used than Anna by 32% . The name Anna has been mainly given to girls, though it has also been used as a boy name in the last century. There were 173 times as many girls than boys who were named Anna in 1930. Baby names that sound like Anna include Annah (English), Agni (Greek), Aine (Irish), Ama (Akan and Polish), Aman (Arabic), Ami (English), Amie (English), Amineh (Arabic), Amma (Fante, Twi, and German), Ammie (English), Amye (English), Ana (English, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Spanish), Anais (French), Anaïs (French), Anan (Akan), Ani (Tamil, English, and Hawaiian), Anie (English), Anine (French), Annie (English), and Annine (German). Details of famous persons named Anna: KEY: Pronunciation for Anna: AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
