Entry № 7160 · Japanese origin

Nana Nana — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ NAH-nah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Japanese
Meaning
"Seven (Japanese); grandmother (Greek)"
Syllables
2
First recorded
Ancient (multiple)

A name that means "seven (japanese); grandmother (greek)".

Nana has parallel meanings. In Japanese (七), it means "seven" — the number of completeness. In Greek and many languages, Nana is the affectionate term for grandmother. In Akan, Nana is a royal title for both kings and queens.

Nana is the iconic dog-nanny in J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan; the manga and anime Nana by Ai Yazawa is a cultural phenomenon.

Seven in Japanese. Royal title in Akan.

The name in its native script.

Transliteration
Nana
Pronunciation
/ ˈnɑː.nə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Nana stands.

Nana does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Nanas before her.

Real people
Nana Mizuki
Japanese voice actress and singer.
born 1980
Nana Mouskouri
Greek singer.
born 1934
In fiction
Nana Osaki
Heroine of Nana.
Ai Yazawa, 2000
Nana
Dog-nanny in Peter Pan.
J.M. Barrie, 1904

Names connected to Nana.

The number behind Nana.

3

The Communicator

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Nana reduce to 3, The Communicator. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.