Hanan meaning

Meaning

Gracious, Merciful

Etymology

From the verb חנן (hanan), to be gracious.

Related names

• Via חנן (hanan): Ananias, Anna, Annas, Baal-hanan, Ben-hanan, Elhanan, Elonbeth-hanan, Hananel, Hanani, Hananiah, Hannah, Hannathon, Hannibal, Hanniel, Hanun, Hen, Henadad, Jannai, Jannes, Jehohanan, Joanna, Joanan, Johanan, John, Jonan, Tahan, Tehinnah

The name Hanan is remarkably popular in the Bible. There are up to nine different men by that name but none of them has much of a role:

• A son of Shashak of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:23).
• One of the six sons of Azel, also of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:38, 9:44).
• A son of Maacah and one of David's mighty-men (1 Chronicles 11:43).
• One of the deputies of Ezra, who helped him explain God's Law to the people (Nehemiah 8:7).
• Three different men who signed the sealed document. It's perfectly conceivable that one of these is the same as the previous one or the next (Nehemiah 10:10, 10:22 and 10:26).
• A son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, whom Nehemiah appointed to assist in distributing foods to the Levites (Nehemiah 13:13).
• A son of Igdaliah, "the man of God". During the time of Jeremiah, the sons of this Hanan apparently formed a specialized sub-class or guild in the ranks of the priests. Their duties required a designated room, and in that room Jeremiah addressed the Rechabites (Jeremiah 35:4).

Note that the Hebrew name of the godfather of high priesthood Annas was also Hanan.

The name Hanan is obviously derived from the verb חנן (hanan), meaning to be gracious:

For a meaning of the name Hanan, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Merciful, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Compassionate, and BDB Theological Dictionary proposes Gracious.