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Ana

girl name
Origin
Spanish
Syllables
2
Peak era
2000s/2010s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Ana and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

“favor or grace”. Spanish, Portuguese, and several other languages use Ana as a form of Anna.

Goes by Ani, Anita. See all nicknames

The story

Ana is what Anna becomes in Spanish, Portuguese, Slovene, Croatian, Romanian, Georgian, and a long list of other languages: not a modern respelling with a letter dropped, but the form whole cultures have always used. The trail leads back through Greek and Latin to the Hebrew Hanna, glossed "favour, grace." Open a Spanish or Portuguese Bible and the name is waiting: the aged prophetess who recognizes the infant Jesus in the temple appears there as Ana. The name collects honors quietly: the Spanish novelist Ana María Matute won the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary award, and Brazilians have started their mornings with Ana Maria Braga on television since the late nineties, parrot puppet and all. The single n is often the whole point, a quiet marker of language, family, and pronunciation. Same ancient name, one letter lighter.

More names with stories →

The formal names behind Ana

Ana is an established short form of each of these names.

Anastasia · Greek origin · resurrection

Liliana · Latin origin · a form of Lillian, which may be an expanded form of Lily, from Latin lilium, "lily"

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

Ana across languages

One shared root links 9 names across 5 languages.

Shared root: from Hebrew Channah "grace, favor", Hannah's prayer-name smoothed through Greek and Latin into Anna and Anne

The constellation

AnaSpanishAnnaEnglishAnnEnglishAnneFrenchHannahHebrewHannaPolishChanaHebrew

More branches

AnnieEnglish · short formAnnetteFrench · diminutive

Ways to honor Anna →

On record since at least 1549: Ana de Austria, queen consort of Spain.

How popular is Ana around the world?

In the United States, 8,044 babies were named Ana between 2020 and 2025. At the 2022 census, 3,948,650 people in Brazil were named Ana, the 3rd most common name, with a median age of 22.

Ana is on the official records of the United States, Brazil, Spain, Mexico City, Montevideo, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Chile, Austria, France, New Zealand, South Australia, Norway, Ireland, Canada, Scotland, England and Wales and Poland.

Ana crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record, of a Spanish-speaking one and of Brazil’s 2022 census, which counts people of every age. The full lists: English and Spanish · English and Portuguese · Spanish and Portuguese

United States

1 in 2,700

In the United States, 8,044 babies were named Ana between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2000s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ana peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Brazil

1 in 51

At the 2022 census, 3,948,650 people in Brazil were named Ana, the 3rd most common name, with a median age of 22.
Among people named Ana living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.

1930speak 2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 277,958 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

See the full list for Brazil →

Spain

1 in 190

In Spain, 236,862 residents are named Ana, the 9th most common name among women, with a mean age of 46.2 years.
In Spain, Ana was the 33rd most common name among girls born in 2024.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Mexico City City

1 in 200

In Mexico City, there were 577 registrations of Ana in 2022.

peak 20012022

share of that year’s registrations in the city

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (28 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

See the full list for Mexico City →

Montevideo City

1 in 360 · 2011

In Montevideo, 69 girls named Ana were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.

peak 19472011

share of that year’s births on record

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

Argentina

1 in 420

In Argentina, 1,564 newborns were given the name Ana in 2024.

2012peak 2022

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

See the full list for Argentina →

Puerto Rico

1 in 690

In Puerto Rico, 26 babies were named Ana in 2025, and 1,977 have carried the name since 1998.

1998peak 20072025

share of that year’s births on record

First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)

See the full list for Puerto Rico →

Chile

1 in 830

In Chile, 214 girls were registered as Ana in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

1920peak 19562021

share of that year’s name registrations

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

See the full list for Chile →

Austria

1 in 1,700

In Austria, 45 girls named Ana were born in 2025, the 140th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.

1984peak 2019

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

See the full list for Austria →

France

1 in 1,800

In France, about 360 girls named Ana were born in 2025, the 149th most common name among girls that year.

1900peak 2021

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

See the full list for France →

New Zealand

1 in 3,600

In New Zealand, 16 girls named Ana were registered in 2025.

1960peak 20042025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

See the full list for New Zealand →

South Australia

1 in 3,700 · 2017

In South Australia, 5 girls were registered as Ana in 2017.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

Norway

1 in 3,800 · register 2026

In Norway, 7 girls were given the name Ana in 2025.

1945peak 19812025

share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure

People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)

See the full list for Norway →

Ireland

1 in 3,900

In Ireland, 14 girls named Ana were born in 2025, the 294th most common name among girls that year.

1980peak 2023

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

See the full list for Ireland →

Canada

1 in 4,600

In Canada, 80 girls named Ana were born in 2024, the 374th most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 20052024

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

See the full list for Canada →

Scotland

1 in 5,100

In Scotland, 9 girls named Ana were registered in 2024, the 351st most common name among girls that year.

1990peak 2018

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

See the full list for Scotland →

England and Wales

1 in 6,400

In England and Wales, 91 girls named Ana were born in 2025, the 439th most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 2018

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

Poland

1 in 31,000

In Poland, 8 girls named Ana were born in 2025, the 381st most common name among girls that year.

2000peak 2023

share of that year’s name registrations

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

See the full list for Poland →

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Ana

Most people given the name Ana in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Ana you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Ana

Maria Julieta Sofia Lucia Maribel Marcela

Where Ana travels

Mexican American · Spanish form of Anna, ultimately from the Hebrew Hannah family, favor or grace

Samoan · Samoan form of Anna, ultimately from the Hebrew Hannah family, favor or grace

Keep exploring

Names like Ana · Names that go with Ana · Nicknames for Ana · Samoan baby names · Mexican American baby names · Short names · What is Ana short for?

Name trails: explore connections from Ana →

The Ana deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ana truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ana fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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