FastNamesHannah
Hebrew name meaning "Derived from Hebrew Channah (חַנָּה), from the verbal root chanan, meaning 'favor', 'grace', or 'compassion'.". Ranked 56th for girls in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Hannah
Derived from Hebrew Channah (חַנָּה), from the verbal root chanan, meaning 'favor', 'grace', or 'compassion'.
Linguistically, Hannah is classified under Hebrew naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "HAN-uh".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Hannah has been given to a total of 465,685 girls. It has also been given to 721 boys.
Peak year: Hannah reached its highest relative share among girls in 2000, when 23,087 babies received the name (12,713 per million births).
All-time best rank: 2nd place, first achieved in 1998.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 56th with 3,973 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 28th (down 28 spots).
Busiest decade: More girls were named Hannah in the 1990s than in any other decade (158,818 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,480 |
| 1890s | 3,021 |
| 1900s | 2,605 |
| 1910s | 4,465 |
| 1920s | 3,811 |
| 1930s | 2,126 |
| 1940s | 1,777 |
| 1950s | 1,447 |
| 1960s | 1,369 |
| 1970s | 4,544 |
| 1980s | 32,702 |
| 1990s | 158,818 |
| 2000s | 155,784 |
| 2010s | 64,506 |
| 2020s | 26,230 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Hannah is most common in the US
Accounting for when Hannah was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Vermont: 2.4 times the national rate (1,302 births since 1910).
- New Hampshire: 2.0 times the national rate (2,882 births since 1910).
- Maine: 1.9 times the national rate (2,632 births since 1910).
- Alaska: 1.8 times the national rate (1,344 births since 1910).
- Wyoming: 1.8 times the national rate (741 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Hannah?
About 441,000 living American girls and women share the name Hannah. Additionally, an estimated 700 living American boys and men share the name.
The median age of an American named Hannah is 25 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Hannah
Hannah originates in the Hebrew Bible in the opening chapters of the First Book of Samuel. Hannah was the beloved but barren wife of Elkanah who traveled to the sanctuary of Shiloh and prayed silently and fervently for a child, moving her lips without making a sound. The priest Eli initially mistook her devotion for intoxication before blessing her; she subsequently gave birth to Samuel, whom she dedicated to God's service, composing the famous Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2), an influential model of biblical thanksgiving hymnody.
The name entered European languages primarily via the Greek form Anna in the Septuagint and New Testament. While Anna became the dominant Continental and medieval form due to devotion to Saint Anne, English and Scottish Protestants after the Reformation embraced the direct transliteration Hannah to return closer to original Hebrew scripture. The name became exceptionally popular among seventeenth-century Puritans who prized its graceful semantic meaning and balanced palindromic spelling.
In the United States, Hannah was a prominent name during the colonial and early federal eras, appearing frequently in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia records. Following several decades of moderate usage in the mid-twentieth century, Hannah staged a stunning revival in the late 1980s. It entered the national top ten in 1995 and remained there through 2007, reaching rank 2 nationwide from 1998 to 2000, praised for its timeless gentleness and biblical authenticity.
Notable people named Hannah
- Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), German-American political philosopher
- Hannah More (1745–1833), English religious writer, philanthropist, and abolitionist
- Hannah Waddingham (1974–), British actress and musical theater singer
- Hannah Gadsby (1977–), Australian comedian and writer
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 119.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 146.
- Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), p. 337.