Latin variation of Anne and Hannah. This is the standard form of Anne in most Slavic and Germanic languages. Anna was second only to Mary as a name for girls born in the United States between 1875 and 1899. It has never been as common in Britain. Anna dropped off to just under the top 100 rank for girls in the 1950s and 1960s, but around 1972 it began to get popular again. Since then Anna has had one of the steadiest rises in use of any girls name. More than 8,885 Annas were born in the United States in 2005, which ranked the name 23rd that year. The tragic heroine of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina is probably the best-known Anna in literature.

Famous names: Anna Kournikova (tennis player), Anna Pavlova (ballerina), Anna Quindlen (journalist and novelist)

Find out about popular Irish names.