Annie
Masculine · “favor”
Annie is given to girls far more often — 360,253 girls against 1,927 boys since 1880. See Annie as a girl 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 1928, making them about 97 years old. About 400 people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Annie most popular?
Annie peaked in 1901, reaching #466 nationally. See the whole 1901 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
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.
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 boys named
- 192760 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #466reached in 1901
- Change vs 1989
- 0.0%5 in 2020, from 5
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
Annies among us
people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Annie sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
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.
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What they receive
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Annie
Masculine
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 400 people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Annie in 2025?
- Annie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Annie with classmates?
- Annie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anthony#46 · Andrew#73 · Alexander#30 · Aaron#80 · Adam#101 · Arthur#87 · Albert#614 · Austin#113
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Annie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Annie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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