Quick answer
Hannah is a girl name with Hebrew roots meaning "favour, grace".
Pronunciation: English /ˈhæn.ə/; German /ˈha.na/; Dutch /ˈɦɑ.naː/; Arabic /ˈħan.na/.
Meaning and history
This name comes from the Hebrew name חַנָּה (Ḥanna) meaning "favour, grace", derived from the root חָנַן ( ḥanan ) meaning "to be gracious". In the Old Testament this is the name of the wife of Elkanah. Her rival was Elkanah's other wife Peninnah, who had children while Hannah remained barren. After a blessing from Eli she finally became pregnant with Samuel. As an English name, Hannah was not regularly used until after the Protestant Reformation, unlike the vernacular forms Anne and Ann and the Latin form Anna, which were used from the late Middle Ages. In the last half of the 20th century Hannah surged in popularity and neared the top of the name rankings for both the United States and the United Kingdom.
20162016: 6,038 births, rank #33
2017: 5,934 births, rank #32
2018: 5,680 births, rank #33
2019: 5,644 births, rank #32
2020: 4,972 births, rank #39
20212021: 4,590 births, rank #44
2022: 4,490 births, rank #47
2023: 4,127 births, rank #48
2024: 4,078 births, rank #52
20252025: 3,973 births, rank #56
Hannah has unusual staying power. It appears in the US records as early as 1880 and still ranks #56 for girls in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2000, with 23,087 births.
Notes and context
Usage: english, hebrew, german, dutch, arabic, biblical | Hebrew: חַנָּה; Arabic: حنّة