Anna
Feminine · “grace”
Anna is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 914,859 girls against 2,756 boys since 1880. See Anna as a boy name
Anna is the form the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible gave to Hannah, and it has been in continuous use ever since — across Rome, Byzantium, medieval Europe, and every wave of immigration to the United States. Four letters, a matching pair of vowels, and a spelling that reads the same forwards and backwards. It is one of the few names a Polish grandmother, an Italian priest and an American kindergarten teacher would all write down without asking twice.
How old is the name Anna?
Anna was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Anna alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 445,000 people named Anna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anna most popular?
Anna peaked in 1880, reaching #2 nationally. Today it ranks #107, 105 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ḥannāh to Anna
The story of Anna
The Hebrew name Ḥannāh belonged to the mother of the prophet Samuel; when Jewish scholars translated their scriptures into Greek, they wrote it Anna, and that form entered Latin and then all of Christian Europe. A prophetess named Anna appears in the Gospel of Luke, and Christian tradition gave the name to the mother of Mary, which sent it into the calendars of saints and from there into ordinary use in nearly every European language. It traveled to the United States many times over — with German, Italian, Scandinavian, Polish and Russian families, each of whom already had it at home, spelled exactly the same way. Few names have arrived by so many separate roads and needed no adjustment on any of them.
Meaning
grace, favor
Anna is the Greek and Latin rendering of Hebrew Ḥannāh, from a root meaning grace or favor.
Cultural footprint
Anna Kendrick (b. 1985) — Pitch Perfect star
Anna Wintour (b. 1949) — Vogue's legendary editor-in-chief
Anna Pavlova (b. 1882) — The ballerina so famous a dessert was named after her
Anna Akhmatova (b. 1889) — One of Russia's greatest poets
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Ḥannāh
- Hanna
- Anna
- Anne
- Ann
Related forms: Ana · Anne · Анна · Άννα · Hannah · Anniina
Pronouncing Anna
AN-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Much of continental Europe says AH-nah, with a broader first vowel — both are the same name, and speakers switch between them without difficulty.
Nicknames for Anna
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 191815,666 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −14.9%2,521 in 2025, from 2,962
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Anna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ana in Spanish — spelling variant
- Anne in French — related form
- Анна in Russian — transliteration
- Άννα in Greek — transliteration
- Hannah in Hebrew — related form
- Anniina in Finnish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE, Statistics Canada, National Records of Scotland. Sources
Annas among us
people named Anna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 638 born in 2025 was named Anna
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Anna
- #107
- Anna on the 2025 chart
- #68
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Anna went to 2,521 girls in 2025, but Ana is the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 3,813, which makes it the 68th most-given girls’ name of the year — 39 places above the chart.
- Anna2,521
- Ana1,276
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 422 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 638 for Anna itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Anna has held the top-100 across 14 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Anna is headed
Anna should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Anna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the same in English, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Greek and the Nordic languages — no adaptation needed when it crosses a border.
- Everyone can spell it on the first try, and it fits any form field.
- Established short forms already exist: Annie, Anya, Ania, Nan — no need to invent one.
- An unbroken written record stretching from ancient Greek scripture through medieval Europe to today's classrooms.
- Still charts in France, Canada and Scotland, so it travels as easily as it reads.
- Ana, Anne and Hannah are all in circulation and all sound close, so she may spend a lifetime confirming the spelling — usually with one short sentence rather than a struggle.
- In the United States it has a long history behind it, and a great many living Annas were named generations ago. That gives the name real depth; it also means she may meet more grown Annas than young ones.
- Four letters and two soft syllables can blur against a very short surname. Saying the full name aloud a few times settles the question quickly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Anna
Feminine · #107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Annas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 445,000 people named Anna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Anna?
- Anna is the most-used spelling in US records — 2,521 of the 3,813 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Ana.
- How popular is the name Anna in 2025?
- Anna ranks #107 among US girl names in 2025, with 2,521 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anna?
- About 1 in every 638 US girls born in 2025 was named Anna — 2,521 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anna with classmates?
- Anna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Parker#106 · Cecilia#108 · Athena#109 · Gabriella#105 · Juliette#110 · Hailey#104 · Catalina#111 · Allison#103
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anna and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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