OUR HANNA FAMILY NAME

The origins and derivation of our family name has become lost through the mists of time. Most authorities on the subject agree that it is of Pictish/Gaelic origin.

The Picts, or more correctly; Britons, and Gaels are peoples of Celtic (pronounced Keltic) origin and the spellings "Hanna" or "Hannah" are not to be confused with the Arabic names of the same spellings. The Japanese "Hana" is also foreign to us.

The present day accepted variations of the name, the: Hanna, Hannan, Hannay, Hanney were in old records as Ahana, Ahanay, Ahanna, Ahannah and Anhannay and are of Pictish origin.

The "A" prefix is a contraction of the British or Welsh "Ap" or "Map" meaning "the son of". There is a suggestion the prefix could also be a contraction of the Gaelic "Ua" (the modern Irish "O") meaning "of", that is: "of" a place or person. This is a possibility, as the Gaels did invade the western islands, highlands and parts of Galloway in the fourth and 5^th centuries, AD.

The suffixes "ay" and 'ey" possibly signify Germanic influences, as the "ay" in the Norse and the "ey" in the Anglo-Saxon tongues means "island". Or it could merely be an Anglicization of any of the "y" sounding suffixes in the Gaelic tongue as that letter does not exist in their alphabet.

Mr. Alexander Hannah, of Inverness, Scotland; first Honorable Secretary of the Clan Hannay Society and Family Historian, agrees with other historians that; the name is an aspirated form of Sennaca (pronounced Shennach) derived from Sean (Shawn - the English equivalent is John) - meaning old, veneracle; or Seannach - Lucky, fortunate, crafty. The aspirated form means that by certain rules of grammar in the Celtic tongues, an "h" is inserted after the "S" as in Seannach, making it spelled Sheannach; but pronounced Hannach. However the good folks of Galloway have a habit of dropping the last sound of a word, thereby making it Hanna. Other possibilities, include: A'hannamh (p. A'hannay - sound the "m" without touching your lips), signifying John of the moorlands; or A'hanne - A'hainne, meaning John of the (fort) circle. Or, lastly, A'hannaidh - John of the church.

For time, during the Middle Ages, the name appeared as "De Annethe" and "De Hannethe" and seems to be of Norman influence. The "De" prefix also appears in Ireland, was also probably brought there by the Norman-French land barons, and most of central and southern Europe and is probably due to the influence of the Latin Language of the former Roman Empire. The "De" also means "of" a place or person.

Most evidence lends to the credence of Gaelic/Pictish roots rather than the Germanic. It is possible that all had their influence as the family held lands in both Scotland and England and were undoubtedly touched by all or many of the cultures of the peoples who invaded Britain throughout its long history.

In more recent times, since the plantations of Ulster (northern Ireland), the colonization of the USA and Canada; the name in these lands has been simplified to Hanna or Hannah., There is another variation of the name here in the USA, due to the illiteracy that prevailed to recent decades. In certain regional dialects the final "ah" sound of some words, as "idea", is pronounced "er". Therefore Hanna was pronounced "Hanner", as literacy spread to these areas the name there has become spelled Hanner. However, this Hanner is not to be confused with the Hanner's of German ancestry.