The Baby Name Wizard

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Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Anna!

Comments and insights on the name Anna: | Edit

According to the baby name book "Cool Names" by Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz, Anna is considered 'cool', while Anne is 'uncool' and Annika is 'cooler'.

Personal experiences with the name Anna: | Edit

My name is Anna and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I don't like it, because it was popular back in the late 1800's and early 1900's and seems "oldies". But by the same token it's short and sweet, and I haven't met anyone with my first and last name yet!

Two years ago I was reading the book "My Sister's Keeper" and I loved the sister-relationship Kate and Anna had so when our fraternal twin daughters were born a year later my husband and I named our daughters Kate Marie and Anna Rose after the sisters from "My Sister's Keeper". When my daughters are older I hope they'll read "My Sister's Keeper" so they know why they were named Kate and Anna.

My name is Anna, I have always loved my name, Its simple but lovely. I never have to spell my name out to people and its the same backwards :)

Frequently gets mispronounced as Ana for me...probably because I have a Hispanic last name, Valencia and I live close to the border where there is a high Hispanic population. Don't let that stop you from naming your daughter Anna though, I think it is a beautiful and simple name.

My sister is called Anna, and she frequently gets mistaken for Hannah. Her dad named her Anna after Agnetha from Abba, who was also known as Anna.

My name is Anna Caroline Rose Erins i go by Annarose just my first name adn my middle name! i love my name i think it's so pretty! i did get sick of the common name anna so i can up with Annarose! i don't know another one! i love it it is a pretty name! my dad insisted on the name Anna he thought it was simple sweet and i love my name because it has so many nicknames! but i do get mistaken for ana alot! i don't know why!! I don't go by Anna anymore i'm just Annarose!

My name is Annabel but I prefer Anna way better. It's simple but not exactly common. I do meet a few Annas but still it's not as common as the Briannas or Hannahs of my generation. Anna is also pretty and feminine but isn't as girly as Annabel. Overall I love my name especially since I was named after my great grandmother whose name was Anna. It's funny because my parents were going to name me Grace and Anna means Graceful. I just love the name Anna and am glade that's my name.

Nicknames for Anna: | Edit

Annie, Nan, Anya, Anoushka, Anouk, Ani, Annika, Ann, Nana, Anna-din Annabelle Ana
we call my sister Anna Banana even though she hates it.

Meanings and history of the name Anna: | Edit

Anna was a prophetess and recognized Jesus as Messiah when Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple. Luke 2:36

Famous real-life people named Anna: | Edit

Anna Nicole Smith, Playmate/Porn Star
Anna Symmes Harrison, First Lady and wife of William Henry Harrison
Anna Neagle, actress
Anna Quayle, actress
Anna Manahan, actress
Anna Kendrick, American actress
Anna Friel, actress
Anna Massey, actress
Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina, inspiration for the Aussie dessert "Pavlova"
Anna Jarvis, founder of the Mother's Day Holiday in USA
Anna Paquin, actress
Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue magazine
Agnetha "Anna" Faltskog - singer from the pop group ABBA
Anna Kournikova - tennis player/modelAnna Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American film and stage actress

Anna in song, story & screen: | Edit

Anna Fitzpatrick - the 13-year-old main character of the book "My SIster's Kepper" by Jodi Picoult and the movie of the same name.
Anna - An Arthur Alexander Hit, covered later by The Beatles.
"Anna Begins", a song by Counting Crows
Anna Karenina, a novel by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Burnett, character in the book series "The Medallion of Franzek" by the argentine writer Canela Lopez Fassón
"Anna Rose", a song by Vienna Teng
Anna Latham Cornick, character in the Alpha and Omega urban fantasy series by Patricia Briggs