Hannah is a biblical name of Hebrew origin. In the bible, Hannah was either the wife of Elkanah and the mother of Samuel or a wise prophetess. Hannah is a palindrome name: a backwards baby name.
What does the name Hannah mean?
Hannah means “favor”, “grace” and “gracious”, “merciful” or “He (God) has favored me” (from Hebrew “ḥen/חֵן” = grace/favor or “ḥanán/חָנַן” = to show favor/to be gracious).
Variants of Hannah
There are multiple ways to spell the name Hannah even though, the spelling with “h” as an ending seems to be the most common one. There are other options such as Hanna as a short version of the name Johanna, or the Slavic version Hana or Hanah. Channah is the original Hebrew form of the name Hannah.
Hannah in television and literature
The most famous fictitious Hannah is most likely Hannah Montana. This TV character, played by musician and actress Miley Ray Cyrus, is a young popstar living a double life trying to navigate the hurdles of coming of age with her best friend Lily played by Emily Osment.
Another Hannah frequently seen in movies and on social media as well as on streaming platforms is the American actress and internet personality Hannah Stocking. She has around 21 million followers on various social media platforms and played minor roles in different movies located in the horror genre.
Hannah Baker on the other hand is a fictitious character from the book series “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher from 2007. 2017 Netflix adapted the book into a TV series produced by musician and actress Selena Gomez. Hannah Baker is played by Kathrine Langford whose sister Josephine Langford is also an actress playing a lead character in a book adaptation.
Lastly there is Hanna Olivia Marin, one of the main characters of the book series “Pretty Little Liars” by Sara Shepard. This book series was adapted as a tv show as well and originally aired from 2010 to 2017. Hanna Marin is portrayed by the actress Ashley Benson and has guest appearances in the spin off show “Ravenswood”.