Nana
About Nana
Nana, most often used for girls as a a short form of Anna or Nancy, is an African name for boys meaning king or in some translations, "born on Tuesday." Isaac Hayes used the name for his son.
It may also be used as an Indonesian diminutive, for the likes of Suryana ("sun") and Sutisna ("good desire; desiring good"), though any name with the na sound may lead parents to this short form.
Nana is currently in the England and Wales Top 1000 for girls and boys, but a recent year saw it lean slightly masculine.
Pronounced NAH-nuh.
As of October 2026, Nana ranked #5773 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #3088 in 2003.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,438 | 32 | 16.7 |
| 2015 | #4,144 | 25 | 13 |
| 2016 | #3,951 | 27 | 14.2 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | #4,446 | 23 | 12.7 |
| 2019 | #4,194 | 25 | 13.9 |
| 2020 | #4,976 | 19 | 11 |
| 2021 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |