Hanna
A surname that can be Irish or Scottish in origin, and in some cases comes from a place-name or older personal name.
The #867 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,740 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname has more than one possible origin. In Irish usage, Hanna is often linked to Gaelic forms such as O hAnluain or similar names that later produced variants like Hannan and Hannon, though the OCR excerpt is too noisy to pin down the exact original form with certainty. In Scottish and northern English contexts, Hanna is also commonly treated as a surname from the personal name Hannah, itself from Hebrew through the Biblical tradition, or as a short form of older names beginning with Han-.
History
The name is well established in Ireland and Scotland, and later spread widely in the English-speaking world through migration. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scholars sometimes proposed other explanations, including place-name or nickname origins, but those suggestions are not as secure as the Irish and biblical-name explanations. The surname is now especially familiar in Ulster, Scotland, and North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Hanna can come from more than one source, people with the same spelling may have completely different family histories.
From the historical record
“dlesex, England. HANNA. Local. From Sdnan, a strong city in Hesse Cassel, Germany. Hana, Saxon, a cock ; figuratively, a leader, a chief man. HANDEL. (Danish.) Trade, commerce; to trade, traffic; handel, Dutch, traffic, commerce, mechanic art, profession, business, or employment. HANDSEL. (Danish.) To deliver into…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names