HANNAH MARTIN

Biblical name, borne by the mother of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:2), Hebrew Hanna. It is derived from a Hebrew word meaning ‘He (i.e. God) has favoured me (i.e. with a child)’. See also Anne. This form of the name was taken up as a given name by the Puritans in the 16th and 17th centuries and remained popular until the late 19th century. Thereafter it fell somewhat from favour but has enjoyed a massive revival since the 1990s.

English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms.