Vannah
A feminine given name derived from the Hebrew name Hannah, meaning "grace" or "favor".
Name Census estimates that about 154 living Americans carry the first name Vannah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vannah today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vannah births was 2017 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vannah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
154
~ 1 in 2,225,678 Americans
Peak year
2017
17 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,461
Tracked since 1986
Popularity
Vannah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vannah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Vannah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vannah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Vannah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vannah
The name Vannah is a feminine given name derived from the Sanskrit word "vana," which means "forest" or "grove." This name has its origins in ancient Indian culture and is believed to have been in use since the early centuries AD.
The name Vannah is closely related to the Sanskrit word "vanaja," which means "born in the forest" or "forest child." This connection suggests that the name may have been initially associated with a connection to nature and the outdoors.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vannah can be found in the ancient Hindu text, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Vannah is mentioned as the name of a minor character, a young woman who lived in a forest hermitage.
Throughout history, the name Vannah has been borne by several notable individuals. One such person was Vannah Bhargava, an Indian poet and scholar who lived in the 8th century AD. Her collection of poems, titled "Vanamalika," explored themes of nature and spirituality.
Another prominent figure with the name Vannah was Vannah Devi, a Hindu mystic and spiritual teacher who lived in the 16th century. She is renowned for her teachings on the importance of self-realization and inner peace.
In the 19th century, Vannah Shastri was a respected Sanskrit scholar and translator who contributed significantly to the preservation and understanding of ancient Indian texts.
More recently, Vannah Kapoor was an Indian environmentalist and activist who worked tirelessly to protect the forests and wildlife of her country. She founded several conservation organizations and received numerous awards for her efforts, including the prestigious Padma Shri in 1992.
While the name Vannah may not be as common today as it once was, it continues to hold a special significance in Indian culture, representing a connection to nature and the natural world.
People
Vannah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vannah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vannah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vannah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 154 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vannah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,225,678 US residents.
Is Vannah a common name?
We classify Vannah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 155 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vannah most popular?
The single biggest year for Vannah was 2017, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vannah is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Vannah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vannah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.