Names Hebrew Female

Anna

Also: Anne, Anna, Hannah (Hebrew form), Ann

Meaning

Hebrew "grace" or "favor" (from Hannah, taken through Greek Anna into Latin and the European languages).

Figure

The prophetess at the Temple who recognized the infant Jesus (Luke 2:36-38); also the traditional name for the mother of Mary in Christian tradition.

Feast day

July 26 (Catholic and Anglican, Saint Anne); September 9 (Orthodox, Conception of the Theotokos by Anna)

Traditions
CATHOLICORTHODOXANGLICANPROTESTANT

In the Christian tradition

Anna is the Greek form of Hebrew Hannah. The New Testament Anna is the prophetess at the Temple of Jerusalem who recognized the infant Jesus (Luke 2:36-38). The traditional name for the mother of the Virgin Mary in Christian tradition is also Anna (or Anne, in the Western form). The Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox calendars commemorate Saint Anne with major feasts.

Anna of Luke 2 is the eighty-four-year-old widow and prophetess who recognizes the infant Jesus at the Temple at his Presentation. Christian tradition has long given the name Anna (or Anne) to the mother of the Virgin Mary, though Mary's mother is not named in the canonical New Testament. The tradition draws from the second-century Protoevangelium of James. The Catholic calendar honors Saint Anne on July 26; the Orthodox calendar commemorates the Conception of the Theotokos by Anna on December 9 and the Falling Asleep of Anna on July 25. The name has been in continuous Christian use across all the traditions and is among the most-used Christian women's names worldwide in its many forms (Anna, Anne, Ann, Anneke, Annette, Hanna).