Hansel
Meaning
“German pet form of Hans (Johannes), ultimately Hebrew 'God is gracious'; known from the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel”
Hansel around the world
One shared root links 47 names across 10 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Yochanan "God is gracious", carried through Greek Ioannes and Latin Iohannes into nearly every European language
The constellation
37 more branches of this family
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Hansel peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
29 people · the #96,655 first name in Brazil · median age 17
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
The Hansel deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Hansel 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 Hansel fits with your family’s names and surname.
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