Given name & surname
Anan
“the fourth-born child”
Anan is used as a given name and a surname. One African interpretation is “the fourth-born child.”
Original Hebrewענן
Meaning & origin
What it means
One African interpretation is “the fourth-born child.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is African.
How it developed
From the Hebrew noun 'anan (ענן), “a cloud.”
From biblical name research
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1983. 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 Anan appears in Nehemiah 10:26.
From biblical name research
Anan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 94
- 89 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 2008
- 11 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #12,138 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 12,138 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 599 as a first name in 2020; 221 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Anan’s family of names
Anan has a related form in Annan. Anan has a related form in Anana. In Greek usage, Anan as a surname is a transliteration of Ανάν.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
See also 7
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Anan
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Anan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Aman
“a trustworthy woman”
98% boys · 2% girls
Adwin
“a great thinker; one who is creative”
>99% boys
Abu
“a father”
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Asis
“of the sun”
>99% boys
Essien
“a child of the people” · “the sixth-born son”
>99% boys
Akin
“a brave man; a hero”
>99% boys
Naki
“the firstborn daughter”
92% boys · 8% girls
Issay
“one who is hairy”
>99% boys