Given name
Anah
“answer”·“task”·“affliction”
Anah is used as a given name.
Original Hebrewענה
Meaning & origin
What it means
As a biblical name, Anah means “answer,” “task” or “affliction.”
From biblical name research
Where it comes from
Anah is a biblical name from Hebrew.
From biblical name research
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1921. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Anah appears in Genesis 36:20, Genesis 36:2, Genesis 36:29 and 2 other passages.
- Genesis 36:20
- Genesis 36:2
- Genesis 36:29
- Genesis 36:25
- Luke 1:5
From biblical name research
Anah through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 435
- 0 boys · 435 girls
- Most popular year
- 2002
- 30 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −63%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 30 in 2002. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 469 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Anah’s family of names
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 13
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
Similar names
If you love Anah, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Hannah
Hannah is a Hebrew biblical name associated with divine favour and the story of Samuel’s mother.
>99% girls
Abra
“father of a multitude (of nations)” · “father of a multitude; father of nations”
>99% girls
Elah
“terebinth”
>99% girls
Mirjana
Mirjana is a feminine given name from Hebrew. It is used in Serbo-Croatian.
>99% girls
Iza
Iza is a feminine given name from Polish, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Polish, Hungarian, and Slovak.
3% boys · 97% girls
Telah
“fracture”
>99% girls
Shoshannah
“resembling a graceful white lily”
>99% girls
Mariah
Mariah is a feminine given name from Hebrew.
>99% girls