The name Anna
Anna is a female name of Hebrew origin meaning “grace”. Below: forms of the name, name days in the Orthodox calendar, character by tradition, numerology, the first letter, talismans and compatibility with other names.
Origin and meaning
Anna is a female name of Hebrew origin. Meaning: “grace”. From the Hebrew Hannah, “grace, favour”.
Forms of the name
| Full form | Anna |
| Short forms | Anya, Anyuta, Nyura |
| Affectionate forms | Anechka, Anyutochka, Nyusha |
Name days (angel’s day)
| 7 August | Dormition of Righteous Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos |
| 22 September | Righteous Ancestors of God Joachim and Anna |
| 22 December | Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by Righteous Anna |
A name day is the feast of the saint after whom a person was baptised. If several saints share the name, custom is to celebrate the first feast after the birthday. Shown here are the main feasts in the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church, with civil (Gregorian) dates.
Character by tradition
By tradition, Anna is a kind, patient and selfless nature. She knows how to care for others and is reliable and loyal. She can be too demanding of herself. Her strength is compassion and resilience.
Name numerology
Letters of the name Anna «Анна» in the Russian 1–9 table: А 1 + Н 6 + Н 6 + А 1 = 14 → 5. The sum is reduced to one digit; the master numbers 11, 22 and 33 are kept.
Name number 5 — freedom and change. Five is the number of movement: curiosity, courage, a taste for the new and for travel. Boredom is worse than hardship for this name; the weak spot is inconstancy.
Vowels give the soul number 2 (partnership and sensitivity), consonants the personality number 3 (communication and creativity). Inner motive: partnership and sensitivity; outer manner: communication and creativity. Such a gap is not bad in itself: others see one side, close people know the other.
In Slavic Cyrillic numerals (using the modern spelling of the name): А=1 + Н=50 + Н=50 + А=1 = 102, reduced to 3. Letters that had no numeric value are skipped. This is an additional digit, not a second name number: meanings for the Cyrillic numerals were added in the 20th century, modeled on Western numerology.
More: name number with surname, Slavic Cyrillic numerals, number meanings.
First letter and letters of the name
In letter reading — a popular tradition of interpreting letters — the first letter of the name matters most: it sets the main tone of character. The other letters add shades.
А — beginning and action. A wish to start, to be first and to act; a need for physical and emotional comfort.
Other letters: Н — strong character and protest.
Talismans of the name
Name books usually derive talismans from the name number and its planet; lists differ between authors. Here we follow Cheiro (“Book of Numbers”): number 5 is linked with the planet Mercury.
| Planet | Mercury |
| Stones | diamond |
| Colours | light grey, white, shimmering shades |
| Favourable days | Wednesday, Friday |
Compatibility with other names
In numerology, compatibility of names is judged by their numbers. Number 5 goes most easily with 1 and 3, and has more friction with 2 and 4.
Goes well with: Evgeniy, Makar, Matvey, Miron, Oleg, Roman, Svyatoslav, Sergey, Trofim, Yakov.
More friction with: Andrey, Anton, Arkadiy, Elisey, Leonid, Timur.
Check a couple precisely: compatibility by name.
Outcome
The name Anna carries the meaning “grace”. Name number 5: freedom and change; first letter A: beginning and action. Inner wishes (partnership and sensitivity) and outer manner (communication and creativity) differ: a person with this name needs close people to see more than what is shown. Name days: 7 August, 22 September, 22 December.