Hannibal
Masculine · “Punic hann and Baal”
Hannibal and John contain the same word. Punic and Hebrew were closely related Canaanite languages, and the hann in Hannibal, grace, is the hann of Hannah and of Yohanan, which is John.
How old is the name Hannibal?
Hannibal first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Hannibal alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 600 people named Hannibal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hannibal most popular?
Hannibal peaked in 1885, reaching #936 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 9,759 places below that high. See the whole 1885 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hannibaal to Hannibal
The story of Hannibal
Carthage was a Phoenician colony and spoke Punic, a Canaanite language close enough to Hebrew that the two shared much of their vocabulary and their naming system. Carthaginian names are therefore transparent to anyone who knows Hebrew: Hannibal is the grace of Baal, Hasdrubal is Baal helps, Bomilcar and Adherbal are built the same way, and Baal itself simply means lord, the same word behind the Hebrew baal, a husband or owner. The general who crossed the Alps in 218 BC with elephants and spent fifteen years in Italy without losing a battle carried a name that means almost exactly what John means, one god's title swapped for another's. The name was used in nineteenth-century America chiefly as a classical revival.
Meaning
Punic hann and Baal, grace of Baal
From Punic Hannibaal, generally read as the grace or favor of Baal. The first element is cognate with Hebrew hen, grace, behind Hannah and Yohanan; the second is the Canaanite god's title, meaning lord. The American peak is 1885.
How the name formed
- Hannibaal
- Hannibal
Related forms: Annibale · Anibal · Hannibal
Pronouncing Hannibal
HAN-ih-buhl
Three syllables, stress on the first. Spanish and Italian drop the initial h and stress the second syllable.
Nicknames for Hannibal
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
- 1885
- Most boys named
- 202118 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #936reached in 1885
- Change vs 2023
- −45.5%6 in 2025, from 11
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.
Hannibal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Annibale in Italian — same name
- Anibal in Spanish — same name
- Hannibal in French — same name
Hannibals among us
people named Hannibal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Hannibal
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
Hannibal sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Hannibal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hannibal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Punic elements are documented and precisely translatable.
- It is an ordinary name in Italian and Spanish.
- Three syllables with a firm opening beat.
- A fictional character has dominated the name in English since 1981.
- It is strongly associated with one historical figure.
- The 1885 peak places it in the classical-revival period.
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Hannibal
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hannibals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Hannibal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hannibal in 2025?
- Hannibal ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hannibal?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Hannibal — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hannibal with classmates?
- Hannibal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hannibal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hannibal? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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