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Ananya: meaning and UK use

By BabyNido editorial team · Published · Last updated

Name-specific desk research, reviewed 2026-10-07. Specialist name references explain etymology; ONS provides birth statistics. Neither guarantees a single meaning for every family using a spelling.

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What does Ananya mean?

BabyNames.com records Ananya as an Indian feminine name meaning unique. This entry uses that specialist reference; it does not verify a particular religious interpretation or pronunciation.

Language or name family covered
Indian usage
Meaning or derivation
Unique
Our browsing group
girl; international

Browsing groups describe our editorial shortlist, not rules about who may use a name. A name can cross languages and genders.

Sources for this entry — reviewed 2026-10-07:

Pronunciation and related forms

We have not verified a pronunciation for this entry. Ask a speaker of the intended language rather than relying on an English spelling alone.

Related forms recorded in the reference: Anania. These may be full forms, diminutives or forms in another language; they are not necessarily pronounced alike or counted together in statistics.

How popular is Ananya?

In 2025, 21 baby girls in England and Wales were registered as Ananya, making it the 1454th most popular girls’ name. That is up 149 places on 2024, when it ranked 1603rd. It has slipped from 787th in 2015, 667 places in ten years. Its best year in the ONS series was 2015, at 787th. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.

2025 rank (girls)
1454th
2025 registrations
21
Best rank in this series
787th (2015)
50 25 0 1996 2025
Babies registered as Ananya (girls) each year, England and Wales. Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales: 1996 to 2025. Counts below three are not published by ONS; gaps are not zero. The chart shows only this selected registration table, not combined totals for both sexes.
Every year from 1996 to 2025
Ananya: rank and number of baby girls by year (ONS)
YearRankBabies
2025145421
2024160319
2023141022
2022150120
2021140222
2020110030
2019109531
2018171117
2017137124
2016101335
201578749
2014109432
2013109832
2012107532
201178947
201084042
200985040
200893734
2007110226
200692831
2005108223
2004110621
2003147214
200219289
200120238
200021677
199919708
199831424
199727385
1996—Not published

The sum of published counts in this 1996–2025 girls series is 705. This is a lower bound where years are suppressed, not the number of living people with the name. A best rank is the best position within this series; it does not establish an all-time record.

Sources: ONS release, 2025; girls' dataset; boys' dataset. Our 20 top-ten positions were checked against Table 1 in the 2025 workbooks. The history chart and spelling comparisons come from the separate ONS 1996–2025 workbook, checked 7 October 2026. Spelling variants are separate entries. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate statistics.

Try Ananya with your surname

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Names to compare with Ananya

These suggestions share a browsing group and one or more of our style tags or source-context labels. They are taste comparisons, not etymological relatives or a popularity ranking.

  • Aishainternational · Living or alive
  • Amarainternational · Grace
  • Ariainternational · Song or melody; literally air
  • Diyainternational · Lamp or light
  • Freyainternational · Lady
  • Hanainternational · Flower with certain Japanese characters

Read the UK naming guide for the difference between inspiration lists and official statistics, or return to the full name finder.

Registering or changing the name

Once you decide on Ananya, confirm the registration process for your UK nation with the register office. If you later want to change a registered name, the route depends on the circumstances and may require consent from people with parental responsibility.

Start with GOV.UK birth registration or GOV.UK guidance on changing a child’s name. Our registration guide and child name-change guide explain where to find the relevant official process.

Frequently asked questions

What does Ananya mean?

BabyNames.com records Ananya as an Indian feminine name meaning unique. This entry uses that specialist reference; it does not verify a particular religious interpretation or pronunciation.

How popular is Ananya in the UK?

In 2025, 21 baby girls in England and Wales were registered as Ananya, making it the 1454th most popular girls’ name. That is up 149 places on 2024, when it ranked 1603rd. It has slipped from 787th in 2015, 667 places in ten years. Its best year in the ONS series was 2015, at 787th. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.