BabyNameScore

Anna

AN·uh · 2 syllables

Anna is comfortably familiar.

88/100

Strong Practical Fit

Balanced across pronunciation, everyday use, lifetime fit and international use.

Name Profile

  1. Pronunciation & Spelling

    Effortless

    A documented English pronunciation is on file: AN-uh.

    91/100

  2. Everyday Use

    Low risk

    Shortens naturally in everyday use, with four established short forms.

    95/100

  3. Growing Up

    Strong lifetime fit

    Short enough to work in every register without a nickname.

    86/100

  4. International Use

    Broad international fit

    Works cleanly across the assessed languages and writing systems.

    85/100

NAME DETAILS

COMMON FORMS
Annie
Ana
Anya
Annika
OTHER-LANGUAGE FORMS
Hanna
Anouk
ORIGIN & HISTORY

About the name

"Grace" or "favor," from the Hebrew verb ḥanan ("to be gracious/show favor") that underlies Hannah. Anna is not itself the original coinage but a Greek/Latin transliterated form of Hannah, so its meaning is inherited directly from the Hebrew root rather than being a separately derived etymology.

  1. Ḥannāh (Hebrew: חַנָּה); Ἄννα (Greek, Septuagint/New Testament form). Borne by multiple Russian imperial-era royals and by Empress Anna of Russia (18th century); a long-standing name among European nobility.
  2. Mythological and religious contextIn the Hebrew Bible, Hannah is the mother of the prophet Samuel; the Greek Septuagint/New Testament form Anna also names Anna the Prophetess, who recognized the infant Jesus as the Messiah in the Gospel of Luke. Saint Anna (Saint Anne), traditionally identified as the Virgin Mary's mother, became the object of significant medieval veneration.
POPULARITY

Anna over time

United States
#107RANK

Rank #107 gives national context, not a classroom forecast.

Recognizable without feeling automatic. Ranked #107 in the U.S., 2025.

SourceU.S. Social Security Administration · 2025 release

Pronunciation & Forms

SAY IT

AN·uh

STRESS ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE

COMMON FORMS
  • Annie
  • Ana
  • Anya
  • Annika
OTHER-LANGUAGE FORMS
  • HannaAR/Germanic
  • AnoukNL

Cultural Footprint

Anna was a prominent name in the Byzantine Empire from an early date and became common among Western Christians in the Middle Ages through veneration of Saint Anna (Saint Anne in English), traditionally held to be the mother of the Virgin Mary.

TRACEABLE ORIGIN
  1. Anna KareninaTolstoy novel
  2. Princess AnnaDisney's Frozen
  3. Anna Kendrickactress
  4. Anna WintourVogue editor-in-chief
  5. Saint Anna/Annetraditional mother of the Virgin Mary

Community Impressions

Anna reads as a clean, classic name with a long track record across many different languages without needing translation or adaptation. Its use for both Tolstoy's tragic Anna Karenina and Disney's spirited Princess Anna in Frozen gives it a split literary-versus-family-friendly cultural charge depending on which reference comes to mind. In the US it has held a steady top-150 position for decades, giving it staying power without feeling overused in any single era.

How this name is commonly received · not used in the score

More about Anna

FORMALITY

Anna works equally well formally and informally with no separate diminutive strictly required, though Annie is used as a softer nickname.

Names around it

HannahView  →
AnneView  →
AnyaView  →
AnaView  →
CLOSE SPELLING
EDITORIAL SYNTHESIS

The Decision

Anna is spelled without unusual letter patterns, and it holds up in everyday use. Surname-dependent compatibility remains unassessed until a surname is added.

STRENGTH

A documented English pronunciation is on file. Short enough to work in every register without a nickname.

BEST FIT

Everyday Use is the strongest-scoring part of this name — no obvious nickname traps, rhymes, or initial issues detected.

FULL-NAME CHECK

See how it works with a surname.

Anna