Ana

Ana is the Spanish and Portuguese form of Anna, meaning ‘grace’. It is derived from the Hebrew name Hannah, from ‘channah’, grace. In the Bible, Hannah is the mother of the prophet Samuel, and in Christian tradition Saint Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary. Ana de Mendoza was a notable sixteenth-century Spanish princess, the Princess of Eboli, a figure at the court of Philip II. The name is used throughout the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world and in the Balkans.