Nanna

Nanna, in Mesopotamian mythology, refers to the moon god known in Sumerian as Nanna and in Akkadian as Sin. He was a central figure in the pantheon of Sumer and later Akkadian culture, with Ur as a key cult center. The moon god symbolized the lunar cycle and timekeeping, and was associated with calendars and celestial observation. In reliefs and texts he is typically depicted with a crescent, underscoring his relationship to the moon and cycles of time. Worship of Nanna persisted through the Old Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian periods, and his cult influenced later Mesopotamian religion.

Nanna is also used as a personal name in multiple cultures. In some European contexts, it is a feminine given name and can function as a standalone name or as a diminutive of longer names such as Anna or Hannah. In other linguistic and cultural contexts, Nanna may appear in different forms or as part of compound names. The name has appeared in historical and modern records across various regions, reflecting the practice of borrowing or adapting names across cultures.

Because of the multiple uses of the term, Nanna can refer to a mythological figure or to a modern personal name, depending on context. When encountered in transliterated inscriptions or literature, Nanna usually denotes the Mesopotamian moon god Sin, while in contemporary writing it more likely refers to a given name.