Hannah
Meaning of Hannah
Hannah is a Hebrew name, from Channah, usually translated as grace or favor. It belongs to the mother of the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament, whose story opens the first book of Samuel, and it passed into Greek and Latin as Anna, so the two names share a root. Standard name dictionaries agree on the meaning and the derivation; the final h reflects the usual English transliteration of the Hebrew.
English speakers say HAN-uh, with the vowel of cat; German speakers say HAH-nah, with a full open a in both syllables.
The biblical Hannah has kept the name in use for centuries. Among modern bearers, Hannah Arendt is the best known: the German American political theorist whose writing on totalitarianism and political life made her one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers.
In the United States, Hannah was already established in the late nineteenth century, ranking 96th in 1880, when 221 girls were given the name. It rose steeply at the end of the twentieth century, reaching second place in 1998 and holding it through 2000, the year of its largest count, 23,087. It has eased since, to 3,973 babies and 56th place in 2025.
Pronunciation
German
- Pronunced as HAH-nah (/ˈha.na/)
English
- Pronunced as HAN-uh (/ˈhæ.nə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Hannah
| Hannah Arendt was a German American historian and philosopher and one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century. |
| Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery - Hannah de Rothschild, daughter of Baron Mayer de Rothschild, inherited his fortune in 1874 to become the richest woman in Britain and in 1878 married Archibald Primrose, becoming the Countess of Rosebery. |
| Hannah Gadsby is an Australian comedian, writer, author, and actor who launched their career by winning the 2006 Raw Comedy national final and later earned Emmy and Peabody awards for their 2018 Netflix special Nanette. |
| Hannah More was an English religious writer, poet, playwright and philanthropist of the Bluestocking circle who advanced moral reform, anti slavery activism and conservative education through her tracts, plays and schools. |
| Hannah Wilke, born Arlene Hannah Butter, was an American multidisciplinary artist known for exploring feminism, sexuality and femininity. |
| Hannah Lucy Cockroft is a British T34 wheelchair sprint racer and TV presenter. |
| Hannah Waddingham is an English actress, singer, and TV presenter acclaimed for stage and screen, winner of an Emmy, two Critics Choice Television Awards, and a SAG Award, with BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Olivier nominations. |
| Hannah Storm is an American sports journalist who anchors ESPN SportsCenter and previously hosted the NBA Countdown pregame show on ABC. |
| Hannah Szenes was a Hungarian-born poet and SOE-trained resistance operative who in 1944 parachuted from Mandatory Palestine into occupied Europe to aid the Allies and help rescue Jews. |
| Hannah Teter is an American snowboarder who won Olympic halfpipe gold in 2006, silver in 2010, a 2005 world championship bronze, and six World Cup victories. |
