Anna

There's a particular kind of confidence in a name that doesn't bother with frills. Anna has two letters, used twice, arranged so neatly that it reads the same from either end. It's the little black dress of baby names: simple, elegant, and somehow never out of place.

Its meaning is just as understated. Anna is a Hebrew name meaning favour or grace ("favor", if you prefer the American spelling), which feels exactly right for something so composed. It's not trying to impress you, and that, of course, is precisely why it does.

A French favourite with a worldwide passport

If you want to see Anna at its most beloved, go to France. It's #10 there (2024), a proper top-ten name, and it's hardly short of fans elsewhere. It sits at #37 in Brazil (2022), #51 in Canada and #58 in Catalonia, and it was #68 in the United States in 2020. Then it becomes a touch rarer: #125 in both England & Wales and Argentina, and #189 in New Zealand.

That's a pleasing profile. Anna is known absolutely everywhere, so no one will ever mispronounce it or ask how it's spelt. Yet outside France it's far from ubiquitous, which means your Anna might well be the only one in her class. Recognisable and a little bit special: the dream combination.

From the opera house to an animated kingdom

The name has a gift for turning up in dramatic places. Anna Netrebko, the Russian and Austrian operatic soprano, gives it a grand, velvet-curtain sort of glamour. And for anyone under the age of about ten, the first Anna that springs to mind is likely to be Anna from Disney's Frozen franchise. Be warned: if you choose this name, you may hear a certain soundtrack more often than you'd planned.

For something cosier, there's the nickname Annie, bright, friendly and just right for a small girl with muddy knees. It gives the name a second personality to grow into, or out of, as she likes.

If you're thinking about siblings, Anna fits beautifully alongside Clara, Emma, Peter and Thomas: timeless names that never feel dated because they never really tried to be fashionable in the first place. Put Anna in any of those combinations and it simply sounds like a family that knows what it's doing.

Which is, admittedly, more than most of us feel when we're halfway through a baby-name list. It's a strangely emotional business, picking a word that someone will carry for life, and even the simplest names can spark a surprising amount of debate. But if you want a name that's gracious, classic and understood the world over, Anna makes a very good case. Short, symmetrical and quietly perfect.