Annie
Feminine · “favor”
Annie is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 360,253 girls against 1,927 boys since 1880. See Annie as a boy name
The most famous Annie in America shot a cigarette out of a Kaiser's mouth. She was performing in Berlin, the future Wilhelm the Second volunteered from the audience, and she obliged — a story she told for the rest of her life, and remarked on again after the war began, when a great many people wished her aim had been slightly worse.
How old is the name Annie?
Annie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Annie alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 116,000 people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Annie most popular?
Annie peaked in 1881, reaching #8 nationally. Today it ranks #182, 174 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hannah to Annie
The story of Annie
The woman at the far end of that chain does something in the text that nobody else does. She goes to the sanctuary, childless and desperate, and prays — silently, moving her lips without sound, which was unusual enough that the priest watching assumes she is drunk and tells her to go and sober up. She answers him back. It is the only place in the Hebrew scriptures where anybody is described praying in that private, internal way, and the passage was later taken as the model for how personal prayer ought to be done. A misunderstanding in a doorway became a rule.
Meaning
favor, grace
The Hebrew name behind it means favor or grace, and the chain from that to this form runs through Greek and Latin and French. The sense passes through unchanged at every stage.
Cultural footprint
Annie Oakley (b. 1860) — Sharpshooting star of the Wild West shows
Annie Leibovitz (b. 1949) — Era-defining celebrity photographer
Annie Jump Cannon (b. 1863) — Astronomer who classified hundreds of thousands of stars
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Hannah
- Anne
- Annie
Related forms: Annie · Annie · Anni
Pronouncing Annie
ANN-ee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The spelling is entirely unambiguous and nobody has ever needed to be told how to say it.
Nicknames for Annie
Moderate
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
- 19247,347 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #8reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- +19.3%1,690 in 2025, from 1,417
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.
Annie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Annie in French — same name
- Annie in Dutch — same name
- Anni in German — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Pennsylvania. International figures from National Records of Scotland. Sources
Annies among us
people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 951 born in 2025 was named Annie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Annie has held the top-100 across 7 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 Annie is headed
Annie 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.
Annie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Annie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is short, warm and instantly familiar in every English-speaking country.
- It is currently returning after a long absence, so it reads as neither dated nor new.
- The meaning is simple, positive and easy to explain.
- It reads as a short form to some people even when it is the legal name.
- A musical and a comic strip both carry the name prominently.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Annie
Feminine · #182 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Annies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 116,000 people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Annie in 2025?
- Annie ranks #182 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,690 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Annie?
- About 1 in every 951 US girls born in 2025 was named Annie — 1,690 in all.
- Will my child share the name Annie with classmates?
- Annie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Annie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ximena#183 · Sutton#181 · Amaya#180 · Adalynn#184 · Kaylani#185 · Lilah#179 · Katherine#186 · Lila#186
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Annie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Annie and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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