MEANING & HISTORY
What does Hannah mean?
Hannah comes from Hebrew Hanna, related to the verb hanan, to be gracious. Grace and favour are the established meanings of the name.
The biblical Hannah is Samuel’s mother, giving the spelling a distinctive scriptural association. Anna, Anne, and Ann belong to the same broader family through other transmission routes. Their relationship is historical and linguistic; Hannah should not be explained merely as an English expansion of the shorter Ann.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ˈhana/Standard-Tagalog
- [ˈhaː.n̪ɐ]Standard-Tagalog
Ha · nnah2 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from English Hannah.
a female given name from English
Wiktionary: Hannah (Tagalog) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
From previous romanizations of Hebrew חַנָּה (Ḥannâ), chiefly for the mother of Samuel, from חַנָּה (ḥannâ, “grace, gracious, graced with child”). As a Wren with the Royal Marines, after Hannah Snell (1723–1792) who disguised herself as a man to serve in the British military. Doublet of Ann, Anne, Anna, and Ana.
A female given name from Hebrew.
Wiktionary: Hannah (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Hannah
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Hannah Espia
Filipino film director
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
5
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Hannah Villame, Hannah Espia
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Hannah in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Hannah
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Hanna♀Grace; a form of Hannah
- Hann·Short name associated chiefly with Johan or John
- Dinah♀Judged or vindicated
- Donah♀Variant of Donna; an Italian lady-word connection
- Halina♀Calm; Slavic form in the Galina family
- Hamham♂Repeated familiar form of Abraham
- Han·Dutch Johannes short form; Chinese readings depend on characters
- Hanako♀Flower + child in the 花子 spelling
What rhymes with Hannah?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
- IvanaTagalog · /-ana/
- JuanaTagalog · /-ana/
- RomanaTagalog · /-ana/
- AnnaEnglish · /-ænə/
- DianaEnglish · /-ænə/
- JoannaEnglish · /-ænə/
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Explore Hannah further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q1554377 — Hannah (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Hannah Villame (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1554377 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Hannah Espia (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1554377 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Hannah (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Hannah (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — Hannah (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.