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Baby names

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Original poster

Hanna - no H

84 replies

HollsMollsi · 04/05/2024 12:24

Baby girl no.2 is due in July. The only name we both like is Hanna, but without the H at the end, we just don’t like how it looks.
Our older daughter is Bella.
Do you think we are ok to use Hanna without the H on the end? We really don’t like Hannah with the extra H so it would be back to the drawing board which is devastating as I love Hanna !

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miniaturepixieonacid · 08/05/2024 08:52

I know two Hannas - one from a muslim family and the other Italian. I think it's a perfectly well known variant of a beautiful name. No reason why you can't use it, even if you are White British.

Also, although I know countless Hannahs, they're all adults. I think it's quite a fresh name for a child now. Classic but not in a popular phase currently.

Likemyjealouseel · 08/05/2024 08:38

I think there’s a risk with the second child of being drawn to names that subconsciously remind you of the first child’s name. I was definitely strangely drawn to the name Ian for this reason as it was very close to our first child’s name. I wonder if the name Bella is making an ‘h’ on the end feel strange to you.
I also wonder whether the name Annabella is subconsciously drawing you towards Hanna too, as a match for Bella.

Coffeeandt · 08/05/2024 08:28

Not sure if anyone has already mentioned this but Hanna is a surname in Northern Ireland.

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 08/05/2024 08:26

@WaitingForMojo , it isn't a traditional spelling in the UK. It might have been used but the Welsh biblical Hannah was 'Hannah'.

ABirdsEyeView · 08/05/2024 08:20

This was my mil's name. She was Scandinavian and it was pronounced more like Henna.
I think you should do as you like - it's not that big a deal imo to correct how people spell it. They'll get used to it and the odd mistake doesn't matter, so long as school and doctors have the right spelling.

My dd has a name that people continuously spell or pronounce incorrectly, but it's a beautiful name (imo) so worth a bit of inconvenience sometimes.

2chocolateoranges · 08/05/2024 07:45

I love the name Hannah but I think spelling it Hanna will mean you and your dd will have a lifetime of spelling her name out to other people as most people will automatically write Hannah.

my name has 4 different spellings and I have to spell it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Thanks mum for that one! 😂 it does get annoying,

RogueFemale · 08/05/2024 00:48

HollsMollsi · 04/05/2024 12:24

Baby girl no.2 is due in July. The only name we both like is Hanna, but without the H at the end, we just don’t like how it looks.
Our older daughter is Bella.
Do you think we are ok to use Hanna without the H on the end? We really don’t like Hannah with the extra H so it would be back to the drawing board which is devastating as I love Hanna !

I don't really like Hannah as a name, it's biblical for a start. Feels sort of horribly wholesome. I also don't like invented spellings.

You love 'Hanna' but you're asking for opinions, and this is what I think.

SulkingSeagull · 08/05/2024 00:00

I think you are maybe trying too hard to make it match with your other daughter's name, so that they are both 5 letters long, with double letters and end with an 'a'. I know 3 Hannah's all spelt as such. Hanna looks incomplete to me and my eyes want to read it as Henna.

MinervaMcGonagallsCat · 07/05/2024 23:41

I think Hanna is much nicer without the second h

HedgehogB · 07/05/2024 23:26

I’m confused. You said you want it to sound the same as Hannah but don’t like the ‘look’ of Hanna. So…. Call her Hannah?

WaitingForMojo · 07/05/2024 23:21

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 07/05/2024 13:28

What do you mean I'm mistaken, @WaitingForMojo ? Are you calling me a liar?

Erm, no.

You said that Hanna is not a traditional spelling in the UK. I pointed out that whilst that may be so in England, it isn’t the case throughout the UK 🫤

SunnyFog · 07/05/2024 20:23

Hanna Heller, genetically modified girl in TV series/ film starring Saoirse Ronan.

Possibly not the greatest role model but hey.

DrJoanAllenby · 07/05/2024 16:02

I worked in a fraud case in the early 90s for William Hanna of Hanna-Barbera fame and the name Hanna will always relate to him.

Hannah is much nicer for a girls name.

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 07/05/2024 15:23

TomeTome · 07/05/2024 14:26

Hannah is Old Testament/jewish, Hanna Islamic.

I don't think that is true.

TomeTome · 07/05/2024 14:26

Hannah is Old Testament/jewish, Hanna Islamic.

OccasionalHope · 07/05/2024 14:21

Hannah is the correct English spelling, but I think Hanna has become anacceptable alternative nowadays.

I do think Anna is nicer though.

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 07/05/2024 13:28

What do you mean I'm mistaken, @WaitingForMojo ? Are you calling me a liar?

WaitingForMojo · 07/05/2024 13:24

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 07/05/2024 13:23

By UK I mean UK.

Edited

Then you’re mistaken. Hanna or Hana is more common in Wales, although we do get English Hannahs too.

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 07/05/2024 13:23

By UK I mean UK.

WaitingForMojo · 07/05/2024 13:12

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 07/05/2024 12:25

Not in the UK. Hannah has been around since the Bible was translated. Hanna since cartoons became popular. Smile

Edited

By the U.K., you mean England?

theveryhungrybum · 07/05/2024 13:00

One of my very favourite people in this world is called Hanna, and I adore the spelling. She sometimes has to correct people, but usually people pick up on the spelling really quickly.

BridgeOverTheRiverWye · 07/05/2024 12:58

I would use the standard spelling. The Hanna and Alys spellings look wrong somehow. I know they are names in other languages but Hannah and Alice are classic. Same goes for Klara, Ana etc

YouveGotAFastCar · 07/05/2024 12:55

It makes me think of Hanna Barbera, the animation company.

She'll just be "Hannah without the H", and then funny people will write "Annah".

But it's not horrific, she'll cope, if Hannah is unbearable for you.

BingoMarieHeeler · 07/05/2024 12:53

Noooo it’s so cool to have a palindrome and looks like you’re just forcing it to match her sister’s name.

Also I’d pronounce Hanna more harshly than Hannah and assume Nordic heritage (no idea if it’s a Nordic name but that’s my first thought!)

Edit : autocorrected to Hannah-with-an-H so that would be another annoyance!

WaitingForMojo · 07/05/2024 12:42

Kitkat1523 · 04/05/2024 13:20

think it’s chavvy

That’s bordering on racist, as it’s from another culture.

I’ve heard the same said about Alys, which is Welsh.