Pollyanna
A Greek name at root, blending Mary with the word for "grace". In Poland it barely registers: only around two dozen women carry it, and most Poles have never met one.
Pollyanna Pronunciation
Pollyanna is pronounced pol-lih-AHN-nah (/pɔllɨˈanna/).
What Pollyanna means
Where Pollyanna comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Pollyanna sets two older names next to each other. Polly is a pet form of Mary. Anna means grace, and it reached English through Greek from the Hebrew Hannah. Read together, the parts give "graceful Mary."
The name owes its fame to one book. In 1913 Eleanor H. Porter published Pollyanna, whose young heroine plays what she calls the Glad Game and finds a reason to be happy in anything. Readers warmed to her so much that the word pollyanna entered English for a stubborn optimist. The novel spawned sequels and films, and a 1960 Disney adaptation kept the character in front of new audiences.
On a Polish class register the name reads as an import, rare beside Maria and Anna. Both of those sit right inside it. Pollyanna holds on to them, and to the grace that Anna brought over from Greek.
How many people are named Pollyanna
1 in 1024720 women in Poland is named Pollyanna. 22 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #9414 among female names.
Pollyanna's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Pollyanna as a middle name
Pollyanna is a first name for 22 women in Poland and a middle name for another 2, a 92/8 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 6590th, between Poli (2) and Prada (2).
-
#6588 Phuong Dung2
-
#6589 Poli2
-
#6590 Pollyanna2
-
#6591 Prada2
-
#6592 Preethi2