Anna

What Anna means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Anna yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Anna?

US: Falling: down from #44 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #70 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1885, when 3,994 girls got the name (#2 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 638 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 730 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 242 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (4.84 per 1,000 girls), DC (4.46 per 1,000 girls), NH (3.69 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Anna is #107 in the US and #142 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Anna were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Ana1,276 US · 91 E&W
• Aarna137 US · 28 E&W
• Una49 US · 84 E&W
• Ina66 US · 12 E&W
• Ani56 US · 15 E&W
• Anny59 US
• Ena44 US · 10 E&W
• Anni19 US · 13 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Anna

Girls

• Angel#546Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2002, with 3,100 babies; 551 in 2025
• Abby#731Diminutive of Abigail, meaning “my Father's joy”^*
• Alexis#554“helper, defender”^*
• Emily#34“rival, emulator”^*
• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025
• Julia#131Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2001, with 8,838 babies; 2,172 in 2025

For a brother

• Seth#581“chosen one, appointed, placed”^*
• Jacob#43“May He Heel”^*
• Jason#165“I heal”^*
• Nathaniel#140“God has given”^*
• Carlos#150Spanish and Portuguese form of Charles, meaning “free man”^*
• Christian#96Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 16,059 babies; 3,641 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Anna’s. Rank is US 2025.