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Help[Facts] Derivation of the names Hannah and Ian
Good afternoon,
I have a rather simple question - the names Hannah and Ian, are they the same, meaning, is Hannah the female version of the name Ian? And yes, I do realise that Ian is not the Hebrew name. I am quite curious as to which name first appeared and, as above, if there is a link between them.
Cheers,
MG
I have a rather simple question - the names Hannah and Ian, are they the same, meaning, is Hannah the female version of the name Ian? And yes, I do realise that Ian is not the Hebrew name. I am quite curious as to which name first appeared and, as above, if there is a link between them.
Cheers,
MG
1
Replies
Hannah is certainly older than Ian, being a biblical (Old Testament) name. Ian appeared in Scotland many centuries later. According to one reliable source, Ian was not used until the late 19th century.
Hannah has the Hebrew meaning, "grace."
Ian is a Scottish form of John < Hebrew Yochanan, "God is gracious."
So while both Hannah and Ian contain the element meaning "grace," they are not otherwise connected, and the answer to your question is no.
I suppose any feminine form of John could be indirectly considered a feminine form of Ian; for example, Jane, Johanna, Joanne. I believe that the forms typically used in Scotland were Jean and Jessie.
Hannah has the Hebrew meaning, "grace."
Ian is a Scottish form of John < Hebrew Yochanan, "God is gracious."
So while both Hannah and Ian contain the element meaning "grace," they are not otherwise connected, and the answer to your question is no.
I suppose any feminine form of John could be indirectly considered a feminine form of Ian; for example, Jane, Johanna, Joanne. I believe that the forms typically used in Scotland were Jean and Jessie.
This message was edited 3/5/2012, 10:33 AM
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Good morning,
And thank you.
I searched but could find no masculine version of the name Hannah. I did find the Hebrew name for which Ian is the derivation and, yes, that the parent name is actually John. What eluded were the dates defining usage, or rather, first usage. Since I was a child I knew that Ann, derived from Hannah, which meant Grace or Favour. I also discovered the name became associated with "Grace" and "Favour" through one story in the Bible, the birth of a son to Hannah, who then gave the child up, to complete a promise.
Recently, I was told by a twit that Ann is a derivation of Ian, more specifically, that Ann comes from Ian. The form in which this took was, the biblical, woman came from man. I do have an abhorrence to simplistic rubbish so I thought I would seek some "FACTS" rather than slim association, the two words "sound" quite close or, worse, wishful thinking!
I seek a text which may hold more details. This has now become an intellectual pursuit. I am, through my own efforts, unable to date the name earlier than Hannah, the Mother of the Samuel. The first mention of the name John comes a good deal later in the Bible. This, however, is not indicative of use. I am then at square one, which name is Older, Hannah or, John.
Cheers,
MG
And thank you.
I searched but could find no masculine version of the name Hannah. I did find the Hebrew name for which Ian is the derivation and, yes, that the parent name is actually John. What eluded were the dates defining usage, or rather, first usage. Since I was a child I knew that Ann, derived from Hannah, which meant Grace or Favour. I also discovered the name became associated with "Grace" and "Favour" through one story in the Bible, the birth of a son to Hannah, who then gave the child up, to complete a promise.
Recently, I was told by a twit that Ann is a derivation of Ian, more specifically, that Ann comes from Ian. The form in which this took was, the biblical, woman came from man. I do have an abhorrence to simplistic rubbish so I thought I would seek some "FACTS" rather than slim association, the two words "sound" quite close or, worse, wishful thinking!
I seek a text which may hold more details. This has now become an intellectual pursuit. I am, through my own efforts, unable to date the name earlier than Hannah, the Mother of the Samuel. The first mention of the name John comes a good deal later in the Bible. This, however, is not indicative of use. I am then at square one, which name is Older, Hannah or, John.
Cheers,
MG
1
Generally, when it comes to Biblical Hebrew names (specifically Old Testament, I don't know about New), most of them come from words rather than other names.
In the Old Testament, when reading in Hebrew, the name Hannah is read as "Chana" (or Channah/Chanah/etc.) This is written as חַנָּה.
After asking my Israeli father, he told me that one word meaning "grace" is חן. ("Chan")
A lot of times, names such as these are describing the person with that name. This is the case with this name, so there really is no masculine form of Hannah, biblically speaking.
In the Old Testament, when reading in Hebrew, the name Hannah is read as "Chana" (or Channah/Chanah/etc.) This is written as חַנָּה.
After asking my Israeli father, he told me that one word meaning "grace" is חן. ("Chan")
A lot of times, names such as these are describing the person with that name. This is the case with this name, so there really is no masculine form of Hannah, biblically speaking.
1
I highly doubt that any prebiblical text exists which mentions either of these ancient Hebrew names (Hannah, and Yohanan/John), and you are probably not going to be able to research this much further. At the least, however, Hannah and John are two entirely separate names, and the earlier recorded form is Hannah.
Your acquaintance's comment does not make much sense. Does s/he believe that every ancient female name necessarily derived from an even older male name? And it is certainly a verifiable fact that the name Ann vastly predates Ian.
Your acquaintance's comment does not make much sense. Does s/he believe that every ancient female name necessarily derived from an even older male name? And it is certainly a verifiable fact that the name Ann vastly predates Ian.
1
Surely both names are equally old, at least as far as we can tell.
The name Hannah appears in 1st Samuel 1-2, and various Yohanans/Johanans gets passing mentions in 2nd Kings, 1st & 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Jeremiah.
The oldest copies of any of these we have are the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date from 200BCE. Textual analysis can give us an idea on the order the books were written, but bear in mind that heavy editing has taken place throughout the bible's history, particularly during the Babylonian Exile. Therefore, I think we should be careful about assuming that a name that appears earlier in the Bible was recorded earlier.
The name Hannah appears in 1st Samuel 1-2, and various Yohanans/Johanans gets passing mentions in 2nd Kings, 1st & 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Jeremiah.
The oldest copies of any of these we have are the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date from 200BCE. Textual analysis can give us an idea on the order the books were written, but bear in mind that heavy editing has taken place throughout the bible's history, particularly during the Babylonian Exile. Therefore, I think we should be careful about assuming that a name that appears earlier in the Bible was recorded earlier.
1
Good evening,
And thank you both for responding.
In answer to your question Claudia, in this case, is Yes, he does believe the biblical reference that the advent of female is entirely due and, from Male. As I said, he is a twit! The one thing learnt as a child was, that names were not arbitrary, they were representative or, descriptive, of the Person, meaning, the person Gave the name its value. Hannah prayed often for a child and, promised that if blessed, she would then give the up. She was blessed with a child but, rather than Hannah being defined as "Blessed" it was defined as "Favour" meaning God favoured her.
This being said, one has to ask, "well, what had the name meant PRIOR to this?" And herein lies my first problem with the association to either John or Ian, that the name HAD no relationship to God, grace or Favour, prior to this! That said, invalidates any claim that, because John (Ian) refer to also to a blessing from God, that these two names are, in any way, related. This was the point which had been missed. I did not wish to rely solely on this piece of logic, but, on a date of use showing irrefutably that, which name came into use first, Hannah or John.
As I said, John appears far later in the scripture but, this does not mean that this is when it came into being. And this is precisely what I wished to know, is there a reference which can clearly date either name.
I must agree with you, there is, quite possibly, no means through which this question can be answered barring a seance. (And please forgive, no intent to hurt or harm meant.)
Cheers,
MG
And thank you both for responding.
In answer to your question Claudia, in this case, is Yes, he does believe the biblical reference that the advent of female is entirely due and, from Male. As I said, he is a twit! The one thing learnt as a child was, that names were not arbitrary, they were representative or, descriptive, of the Person, meaning, the person Gave the name its value. Hannah prayed often for a child and, promised that if blessed, she would then give the up. She was blessed with a child but, rather than Hannah being defined as "Blessed" it was defined as "Favour" meaning God favoured her.
This being said, one has to ask, "well, what had the name meant PRIOR to this?" And herein lies my first problem with the association to either John or Ian, that the name HAD no relationship to God, grace or Favour, prior to this! That said, invalidates any claim that, because John (Ian) refer to also to a blessing from God, that these two names are, in any way, related. This was the point which had been missed. I did not wish to rely solely on this piece of logic, but, on a date of use showing irrefutably that, which name came into use first, Hannah or John.
As I said, John appears far later in the scripture but, this does not mean that this is when it came into being. And this is precisely what I wished to know, is there a reference which can clearly date either name.
I must agree with you, there is, quite possibly, no means through which this question can be answered barring a seance. (And please forgive, no intent to hurt or harm meant.)
Cheers,
MG
1