Hannah

Hannah meaning

Hannah is a Christian and international girl's name of Hebrew origin.

Favoured; from chanan, to show favour, be gracious

Hannah comes from the Hebrew name Channah (חַנָּה). Strong's concordance glosses it "favoured" and derives it from chanan, a verb meaning to be gracious or to show favour. In the Bible Hannah is the mother of the prophet Samuel: in 1 Samuel 1 she prays at Shiloh for a son and promises him to God, and in chapter 2 she gives thanks in a song of praise. Her name occurs thirteen times in those two chapters. Baby-name lists usually give "grace" or "favour", which agrees with the root. The Greek and Latin form of the name is Anna, which in turn gave Ann, Anne and many related names. Hannah reads the same backwards and forwards.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, H2584 · entry Channah · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's H2584, Channah (Bible Hub) · Wikipedia, Hannah (name)

Famous namesakes

• Hannah, mother of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1–2)

Popularity abroad

• #56 United States, girls 2025 (down 4 from 52 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #105 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Hannah · Hanna · Hana

Related names

Also meaning grace

Also starting with Han-

More names of Hebrew origin

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