Anna (name)

Anna

Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, depicted instructing her daughter in this painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The popularity of the name Anne is largely due to this saint.
Pronunciation	/ˈænə/
Gender	Female
Name day	July 26
Origin
Language(s)	Hebrew, Greek, Latin
Meaning	favour, grace
Region of origin	German (mainly Saarland) French (from Alsace and Lorraine of German origin) Slovak and Hungarian
Other names
Alternative spelling	Ana, Anne
Variant form(s)	Ana, Anne, Annie
Related names	Anita (Spanish) Anja (Danish) Anka (Russian) Annetta (Italian) Annette (French) Annie (English) Annika (Swedish)
See also	Hanna
Popularity	see popular names
[1]

Anna is a feminine given name, the Latin form of the Greek: Ἄννα and the Hebrew name Hannah (Hebrew: חַנָּה, romanized: Ḥannāh), meaning "favour" or "grace".

Anna is in wide use in countries across the world as are its variants Ana, Anne, originally a French version of the name, though in use in English speaking countries for hundreds of years, and Ann, which was originally the English spelling. Saint Anne is traditionally the name of the mother of the Virgin Mary, which accounts for its wide use and popularity among Christians. The name has also been used for numerous saints and queens. In the context of pre-Christian Europe, the name can be found in Virgil's Aeneid,^[2] where Anna appears as the sister of Dido advising her to keep Aeneas in her city.