Zanna
Feminine · “lily”
English shortens a name from the front and Slavic languages often shorten from the middle. Zuzanna is the Polish Susanna, and Zanna is what is left when the first syllable goes — which leaves a name starting with a letter English almost never starts anything with. It is also, quite separately, the Latvian form of Jeanne.
How old is the name Zanna?
Zanna first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Zanna alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 600 people named Zanna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zanna most popular?
Zanna peaked in 1921, reaching #4023 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 9,185 places below that high. See the whole 1921 chart.
Where it comes from
From shoshannah to Zanna
The story of Zanna
Zuzanna is entirely standard in Poland and Zuzana in the Czech lands, and the short forms Zuzia and Zanna go with them. Latvian, meanwhile, borrowed Jeanne from French and wrote it Žanna, since Latvian spells the sound it hears. Both arrived in American records through Central and Eastern European migration. Zanna appears from 1920 and has been rare throughout, which is what happens to a name that starts with a letter English readers find slightly exotic.
Meaningscholars disagree
lily, or God is gracious
Two roads. As a short form of Zuzanna, the Polish Susanna, the meaning is the Hebrew shoshannah, a lily. As the Latvian Žanna, it is that language's form of the French Jeanne, and so of John — God is gracious. The two are unrelated and both are in American records.
How the name formed
- shoshannah
- Susanna
- Zuzanna
- Zanna
Related forms: Zuzanna · Žanna · Zuzana
Pronouncing Zanna
ZAN-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the doubled n keeping the vowel short. Latvian says its version with a zh sound at the front, closer to the s in measure, which is a genuinely different opening.
Nicknames for Zanna
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
- 1920
- Most girls named
- 201428 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4023reached in 1921
- Change vs 2024
- −53.8%6 in 2025, from 13
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.
Zanna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Zuzanna in Polish — related form
- Žanna in Latvian — same name
- Zuzana in Czech — related form
Zannas among us
people named Zanna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Zanna
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zanna
- #13208
- Zanna on the 2025 chart
- #927
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zanna went to 6 girls in 2025, but Zana is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 33, which makes it the 927th most-given girls’ name of the year — 12,281 places above the chart.
- Zana27
- Zanna6
About 1 girl in 48,705 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 267,878 for Zanna 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
Zanna 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
Zanna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zanna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters, two syllables, and readable on sight by any English speaker.
- Anna is hiding inside it and is a complete name across Europe.
- It opens with a letter that very few names use, which makes it distinctive.
- Both possible origins are real and standard in their own countries.
- Zana, Zannah and Xanna all appear, so the spelling has to be given.
- It is often assumed to be short for something, and it is — but for two different things.
- Its meaning cannot be stated flatly, since two unrelated traditions meet at the spelling.
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Zanna
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zannas 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 Zanna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zanna?
- Zanna is one of 2 recorded spellings. Zana is the more common one — 27 births in 2025 against 6 for Zanna.
- How popular is the name Zanna in 2025?
- Zanna ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zanna?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Zanna — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zanna with classmates?
- Zanna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zanna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zanna? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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