Actually, Hannah (or Channah or Chanah, etc.) is a Hebrew name - but NOT a surname.
Jews used patronymics instead of surnames, so a name would look like Hannah bet Ibrahim (Hannah daughter of Abraham). And ALWAYS the person was the son or daughter of the FATHER, never the mother (though the Jewish identity is matriarchal - go figure).
So even if in the above you would consider bet Ibrahim (or just Ibrahim) to be a surname, that would never be Hannah as that is a female name.
But as far as a name it is definitely hebrew. Hannah was the mother of the prophet Samuel (from Torah - or Old Testament) and also is refered to many times in the Talmud.
2007-10-18 11:52:58
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answer #1
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answered by Mind Bender 5
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Hannah is a very common name amongst Scottish immigrants to the US in both the 19th and 20th centuries. Lost among all the answers is the reality that surnames haven't "always" existed. They developed over time from things that were common in people's lives. The Bible was very common throughout Europe because it was the one thing that was a constant from town to town. Adopting a name from the Bible was not at all uncommon, regardless of ethnicity. That's why there are so many families named Matthew and Mathias out there. But that doesn't mean the families were ever Jewish, just that they adopted their names from a book written by Jews and about early Jewish civilization.
When in doubt, go to the source. There were 90 Scottish immigrants to the US through Ellis Island named Hannah and 125 through the Port of New York. Add in another 250 who came from Germany or France and used the spelling Hanna.
Jewish surnames were adopted the same way their Gentile neighbors adopted theirs. The only thing distinguishing a few, such as Goldman, is that in certain parts of Europe goldsmithing was a predominantly Jewish art...so most goldsmiths identifying with their trade were easily identified by their association with the precious metal. But there are few names outside the artisan trades which have an exclusively Jewish meaning or usage.
2007-10-18 15:35:28
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answer #2
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answered by GenevievesMom 7
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I think many names in the U. S. that are considered Jewish is that the people with those surnames that immigrated here were Jewish but probably back in their home countries they were common among Jews and non Jews.
According to Orthodox and Conservative Judaism a person must have a Jewish mother, not necessarily a Jewish father, to be Jewish. They state you get the nation from the mother and the tribe from the father. If a person doesn't have a Jewish father they belong to the tribe of the nearest male relative on their mother's side of the family.
In other words a person could be named
MacIntosh and if they had a Jewish mother they would be Jewish according to Orthodox and Conservative Jews.
2007-10-18 11:15:42
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answer #3
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answered by Shirley T 7
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It can be a Jewish surname, but it s not a common. In some areas a child s surname was take from the mother s first name. Use of the mother s name is called matronymics. Hannan, Chanin, Khanin are also based on the name Hanna. Hanna, Hannan, Hanan are also Scottish surnames. It s not really to possible to say what the origin of this name is without looking at other information, such as where the person originated.
2015-05-23 01:06:14
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answer #4
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answered by Rogneid 1
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Well, here's a whole board at www.genealogy.com dedicated to the SURNAME Hannah.
http://genforum.genealogy.com/hannah/
When I placed the word "origin" in the search box (no quotes), I came up with the history of a family that actually came from Northern Ireland who had the Hannah surname. Another Hannah came from Scotland. It's possible the Clans have various Hannah surnames such as Hannay, Hannah, Hanna or Hanney. There's also a website for Clan Hannah http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~rhannah/
The given name Hannah (meaning gracious, full of grace, etc) could very well be Jewish or Hebrew as it's translated differently in each language.
2007-10-18 13:31:34
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answer #5
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answered by avonfromstubby 4
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Byrnes is usually considered Norman Irish and Kehoe is usually considered Gaelic Irish. That doesn't mean that a person with either of those surnames can't be Jewish. Jewish means a person was born to an ethnically Jewish mother or a person converted to the Jewish religion.
2016-03-18 01:28:16
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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It is not a common Jewish surname. In fact, I don't think I have ever met a Jew with Hannah as surname, though I don't deny there might be some.
It is however a common Jewish first name.
2007-10-18 11:10:44
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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Hanna Surname
2016-12-26 18:23:10
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answer #8
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answered by swadling 4
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Its not a typical Jewish surname ... usually you can tell most Jewish surnames because they end in a -berg, -man, -thal, or -y. A couple examples .... Rosenberg, Gleeman, Blumenthal, Goldy, etc ... Then there is the veritable "Cohen" ... like the "Smith" of the Jewish world. However, just because you have one of these names doesn't mean your Jewish -- I've met people with very Jewish names that weren't even the least bit semitic.
In all honesty, if I met a person with the last name "Hannah" I really wouldn't even assume they were Jewish just from their name.
2007-10-18 11:04:18
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answer #9
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answered by blursd2 5
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Hannah isn't normally a surname, but a given name.
It's a popular given name among jewish people, though. And it's increasingly popular as a given name among those of us who are goys.
2007-10-18 11:02:09
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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