Hanah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor".
Name Census estimates that about 1,999 living Americans carry the first name Hanah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hanah today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hanah births was 2001 (118 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hanah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hanah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 171,463 Americans
Peak year
2001
118 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,604
Tracked since 1977
Census
Hanah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,263 people with the first name Hanah, which placed it at #6,919 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,919
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,263 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hanah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hanah is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.0%) and Hispanic (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hanah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hanah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.4% · 1,480
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.0% · 339
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 194
- Two or more races5.8% · 131
- Black or African American4.7% · 107
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 12
Popularity
Hanah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hanah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 839 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hanah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hanah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hanahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Hanah, while West Virginia, Virginia, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hanah
The name Hanah is a Hebrew name derived from the biblical figure Hannah, who appears in the Old Testament's Books of Samuel. Hannah was the devoted wife of Elkanah and the mother of the prophet Samuel. The name is a variant spelling of the original Hebrew name Channah, which means "grace" or "favor."
In the biblical account, Hannah was initially barren but fervently prayed to God for a child. Her prayers were answered, and she conceived and gave birth to Samuel, whom she dedicated to the service of God. Hannah's story is celebrated as an example of unwavering faith and perseverance.
The name Hanah gained popularity among Jewish communities and later spread to other cultures and religions. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Old Testament, where Hannah is mentioned as the mother of Samuel, who became a prominent prophet and judge in ancient Israel.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Hanah or its variants. One example is Hanah Senesh (1921-1944), a Hungarian-born Jewish poet, and paratrooper who fought in the Jewish resistance during World War II. She was captured by the Nazis and executed for her involvement in the resistance movement.
Another famous Hanah was Hanah Javaneh (1931-2003), an Iranian actress and singer who became a prominent figure in the Iranian cinema industry during the mid-20th century. She was known for her versatile acting skills and her powerful vocal abilities.
In the religious realm, Hanah Rountre (1625-1678) was a prominent Quaker leader and preacher in England during the 17th century. She played a significant role in spreading the Quaker faith and advocating for religious tolerance.
Hanah Holborn (1902-1975) was a renowned German-American historian and scholar who specialized in the history of the Renaissance and Reformation periods. She taught at prestigious universities such as Yale and Stanford and made significant contributions to historical research.
Finally, Hanah Bouton (1892-1983) was an American aviator and one of the first women to earn a pilot's license in the United States. She was a pioneering figure in the early days of aviation and played a crucial role in promoting women's participation in the field.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Hanah throughout history, highlighting the name's rich cultural and historical significance across various contexts and eras.
People
Hanah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hanah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hanah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hanah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,999 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hanah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 171,463 US residents.
Is Hanah a common name?
We classify Hanah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,047 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hanah most popular?
The single biggest year for Hanah was 2001, when 118 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hanah is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hanah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,263 people with the name Hanah, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,919 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hanah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hanah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hanah appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,274 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hanah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hanah is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.0%) and Hispanic (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hanah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hanah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.4% (1,480 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hanah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hanah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hanah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hanah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hanah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hanah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Hanah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.