Loading AI tools
Hans is a Germanic male given name in Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Faroese, German, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish-speaking populations. It was originally short for Johannes (John),[2] but is now also recognized as a name in its own right for official purposes. The earliest documented usage was in 1356 in Sweden,[3] 1360 in Norway,[4] and the 14th century in Denmark.[5]
| Pronunciation | US: /hɑːnz/ HAHNZ, UK: /hænz/ HANZ Danish: [hænˀs] German: [hans] Dutch: [ɦɑns] |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Name day | October 25 (Germany) August 29 (Sweden) June 24th (Norway, Estonia, Denmark) December 27 (Finland) |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Pet form of Johannes |
| Meaning | "God has been gracious"[1] |
| Region of origin | German, Dutch, Scandinavian |
| Other names | |
| Pet form(s) | Hampus |
| Related names | Hanni, Hanno, Hánno, Hannu, Hánsa, Hansi, Hanski, Hanssi, Hanse, Hansu, Hensar, Hampe, Hanseraq, Hansinnguaq, Hasse |
The name Hansel (German: Hänsel, IPA: [ˈhɛnzl̩] ) is a diminutive, meaning "little Hans". Another diminutive with the same meaning is Hänschen (IPA: [ˈhɛnsçn̩] ), found in the German proverb was Hänschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr; which translates roughly as "what Hansel doesn't learn, Hans will never learn".[citation needed]
Separately derived, Hans is also a male given name meaning "swan" in the Sanskrit language families of the Indian subcontinent.
Other variants include: Han, Hawns, Hanns, Hannes, Hanse, Hansi (also female), Hansie, Hansele, Hansal, Hensal, Hanserl, Hännschen, Hennes, Hännes, Hänneschen, Henning, Henner, Honsa, Johan, Johann, Jan, Jannes, Jo, Joha, Hanselmann, Hansje.[citation needed]
Pet, diminutive, alternative and other language forms are:
- Hannes (Dutch, German, Swedish, Icelandic, Finnish)
- Honza (Czech)
- Hovhannes (Armenian: Հովհաննես (Hovhannes) (reformed); Յովհաննէս (Yovhannēs) (classical))
- Jack (English)
- Johnny/Johnnie (English)
- John (English)
- יוֹחָנָן yokhanán, Yohanan or יְהוֹחָנָן yehokhanán, Yehohanan (Hebrew)
- Yohanna (Arabic: يوحنا) the Arabic language derivative, used among Arabic-speaking Christians
- Yahya (Arabic: يحيى), used among Arab and non-Arab Muslims
- Eoin (Irish-language derivation of Seán; in Irish and Scottish Gaelic refers to the Apostle)
- Evan, Ifan (Welsh a pre-Christian Celtic subsequently equated to John)
- Jevan (variation of Evan)
- Giovanni, Gianni (Italian)
- Ġwanni, Ġwann, Ġanni (Maltese)
- Jan (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Slovak, German)
- Ján (Slovak)
- Janez, diminutives: Jan, Jani, Janko (Slovenian)
- János (Hungarian); diminutives: Jancsi, Jani
- Johan (Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian)
- Chuan (Aragonese)
- Joan (Catalan)
- Jean (French)
- Jehan, (medieval French), still in use, but rare
- Yann (Breton)
- João (Portuguese)
- Hans (Indonesian)
- Xoan, Xan (Galician)
- Johannes (Germanic: German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch)
- Johan, Johann (short forms of Johannes)
- Jón (Icelandic)
- Jonas (Lithuanian)
- Jovan (Serbian)
- Juan (Spanish and Filipino)
- Juhani, Juha, Jukka (Finnish)
- Ants (Estonian)
- Jānis (Latvian)
- Ansis (Latvian)
- Ian (Scottish derived from Gaelic Iain)
- Ion (Romanian)
- Ivan (Иван; Bulgarian, Croatian, Russian and other Slavic languages)
- Sean (Irish Seán, after the French Jean)
- Shane (anglicized form of Seán)
- Shaun (anglicised form of Seán)
- Shawn (anglicised form of Seán)
- Siôn (Welsh)
- Yohani (Kirundi)
- Yohanes (Eritrean)
- Giuàn (Western Lombard)
Feminine forms are:
- Hansina, Hansine
- Hanna/Hannah/Hanne (Danish,Norwegian)
- Ioana
- Jana
- Jane
- Joana (Portuguese and Catalan)
- Jeanne (French)
- Joanne
- Joan
- Johanna
- Johanne (Danish,Norwegian)
- Jean
- Janice, Janet, both shortened as "Jan"
- Non-English variants adopted as English names include Jeanette
- Seònaid, Sinéad, Seònag
Arts and entertainment
Authors
- Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), Danish author
- Hans Henning Atrott (1944–2018), German author and theorist
- Hans Einer (1856–1927), Estonian language teacher, author of schoolbooks and a cultural figure
- Hans Fallada (1893–1947), German writer
- Hans Herbjørnsrud (1938–2023), Norwegian author
- Hans Holzer (1920–2009), Austrian-American author and parapsychologist
- Hans Henny Jahnn (1894–1959), German playwright and novelist
- Hans Lorbeer (1901–1973), German politician and writer
- Hans Erich Nossack (1901–1977), German writer
Music
- Hans Guido von Bülow (1830–1894), German pianist and conductor
- Hans Gruber (conductor) (1925–2001), Canadian conductor
- Hans Raj Hans (born 1962), Indian singer
- Hans Hartz (1943–2002), German singer
- Hans Werner Henze (1926–2012), German composer
- Hans Poulsen (1945–2023), Australian songwriter/musician
- Hans Söllner (born 1955), German singer-songwriter
- Hans Zender (1936–2019), German composer and conductor
- Hans Zimmer (born 1957), German film composer
Painters and sculptors
- Hans Coumans (1943–1986), Dutch painter
- Hans Ruedi Giger (1940–2014), Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer
- Hans Heysen (1877–1968), Australian landscape painter
- Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543), German Renaissance portraitist
- Hans Seyffer (1460–1509), German sculptor
Other arts and entertainment
- Hans Albers (1891–1960), German singer and actor, stage name Der blonde Hans
- Hans Christensen (1924–1983), Danish-born American silversmith
- Hans Clarin (1929–2005), German actor
- Hans Conried (1917–1982), American comedian and actor
- Hans Kaldoja (1942–2017), Estonian actor
- Hans Klok (born 1969), Dutch magician
- Dolph Lundgren (born Hans Lundgren) (born 1957), Swedish actor and martial artist
- Hans Matheson (born 1975), Scottish actor
- Hans Moser (actor) (1880–1964), Austrian actor born Jean Julier
- Hans Heinz Moser (1936–2017), Swiss actor
- Hans Werner Olm (born 1955), German cabaret performer and comic
- Hans Roosipuu (1931–2017), Estonian film director
- Hans Rosenthal (1925–1987), German entertainer and presenter, named Hänschen Rosenthal
- Hans Söhnker (1903–1981), German actor
- Hans H. Steinberg (born 1950), German actor
- Hans Strydom (born 1947), South African actor
- Hans Wegner (or Hans Jørgensen Wegner, 1914–2007), Danish furniture designer
Medicine
- Hans Asperger (1906–1980), Austrian pediatrician for whom Asperger syndrome is named
- Hans Berger (1873–1941), German neurologist
- Hans Sauer (1857–1939), South African general practitioner, lawyer, and businessman
Military and paramilitary
- Hans Aumeier (1906–1948), German Nazi SS deputy commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp executed for war crimes
- Hans Berndtson (born 1945), Swedish Army lieutenant general
- Hans Bothmann (1911–1946), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans Dreyer (1930/31–2015), South African Police major general and head of Koevoet
- Hans Hagnell (1919–2006), Swedish politician
- Hans Helwig (1881–1952), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans Horrevoets (1974–2006), Dutch sea sailor
- Hans Hüttig (1894–1980), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans Kalm (1889–1981), Estonian-born military officer
- Hans Krebs (SS general) (1888–1947), Moravian-born Nazi SS officer executed for war crimes
- Hans Krebs (Wehrmacht general) (1898–1945), last German Army chief of staff during World War II
- Hans Loritz (1895–1946), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans von Luck (1911–1997), German officer
- Hans Möser (1906–1948), German Nazi SS concentration camp officer executed for war crimes
- Hans Osara (c. 1560–1601), Finnish lieutenant in the Cudgel War
- Hans Oster (1887–1945), German brigadier general and deputy head of military intelligence
- Hans Simonsson (1880–1965), Swedish Navy vice admiral
Politics
- Hans Apel (1932–2011), German politician
- Hans Barchue (died 2023), Liberian politician
- Hans Bentzien (1927–2015), East German writer and politician
- Hans Blix (born 1928), Swedish diplomat and politician
- Hans, Count von Bülow (1774–1825), Prussian statesman
- Hans Eichel (born 1941), German politician
- Hans Ekström (born 1958), Swedish politician
- Hans Filbinger (1913–2007), German politician
- Hans Frank (1900–1946), German Nazi lawyer and governor general of Nazi-occupied Poland executed for war crimes
- Hans Friderichs (born 1931), German politician and businessman
- Hans Dietrich Genscher (1927–2016), German politician
- Hans Gualthérie van Weezel (born 1941), Dutch politician and diplomat
- Hans Gustafsson (1923–1998), Swedish politician
- Hans Hamilton (1758–1822), Anglo-Irish politician
- Hans Koschnick (1929–2016), German politician
- Hans Kruus (1891–1976), Estonian historian, academic and politician
- Hans Rasmus Hansen (1896–1971), Danish politician
- Hans Rebane (1882–1961), Estonian politician, diplomat and journalist
- Hans Reingruber (1888–1964) was a German academic and transport minister of East Germany
- Hans Strijdom (1893–1958), South African politician and Prime Minister
- Hans Unander (born 1970), Swedish politician
- Hans Vijlbrief (born 1963), Dutch state secretary
- Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020), German politician
- Hans Wiegel (born 1941), Dutch politician
Science
- Hans Ankum (1930–2019), Dutch legal scholar
- Hans Avé Lallemant (1938–2016), Dutch-born American geologist
- Hans Bethe (1906–2005), German-American nuclear physicist, Nobel laureate
- Hans Bos (born 1950), Dutch biochemist and cancer researcher
- Hans Capel (1936–2023), Dutch physicist
- Hans Cohen (1923–2020), Dutch microbiologist
- Hans Albert Einstein (1904–1973), Swiss-American professor of hydraulic engineering, son of Albert Einstein
- Hans Freeman (1929–2008), German-born Australian protein crystallographer who elucidated the structure of plastocyanin
- Hans Geiger (1882–1945), German physicist, inventor of the Geiger counter
- Hans Hass (1919–2013), Austrian diver, naturalist and film-maker
- Hans Adolf Krebs (1900–1981), German born, British physician and biochemist. Identified citric acid cycle
- Hans Küng (1928–2021), Swiss Catholic theologian and author
- Hans Lauda (1896–1974), Austrian industrialist
- Hans Lowey, Austrian-American chemist
- Hans Merensky (1871–1952), South African geologist
- Hans Oeschger (1927–1998), Swiss climatologist
- Hans Christian Ørsted (1777–1851), Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields
- Hans Steffen (1865–1937), German geographer and explorer of Patagonia
- Hans Trass (1928–2017), Estonian ecologist and botanist
- Hans von Ohain (1911-1998), German Physicist, and Aerospace pioneer.
Sports
- Hans Christian Bernat (born 2000), Danish professional footballer
- Hans Christensen (footballer) (1906–1992), Danish footballer
- Hans Dersch (born 1967), American breaststroke swimmer
- Hans Eller (1910–1943), German rower
- Hans Erkens (born 1952), Dutch footballer
- Harold Goldsmith, born Hans Goldschmidt (1930–2004), American Olympic foil and épée fencer
- Hans Halberstadt (1885–1966), German-born American Olympic fencer
- Hans Knecht (1913–1996), Swiss road racing cyclist
- Hans Krankl (born 1953), Austrian football player and trainer
- Hans Lutz (born 1949), German track and road cyclist
- Hans Maier (1916–2018), Dutch Olympic water polo player
- Hans Maier (rower) (1909–1943), German Olympic rower
- Hans Nüsslein (1910–1991), German tennis player
- Hans Parrel (born 1944), Dutch water polo player
- Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (born 1988), Chilean tennis player
- Hans Sarpei (born 1976), Ghanaian soccer player
- Hans Stolfus (born 1976), American beach volleyball player
- Hans Vanwijn (born 1995), Belgian basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Hans von Tschammer und Osten (1887–1943), German sports director
- Hans Vonk (born 1970), South African soccer player
- Hans Wouda (born 1941), Dutch water polo player
Other fields
- Hans Werner Aufrecht (born 1936), German automotive engineer, one of the founders of AMG Engine Production and Development
- Hans Benno Bernoulli (1876–1959), Swiss architect
- Hans Biebow (1902–1947), German chief of Nazi administration of the Łódź Ghetto, executed for war crimes
- Hans Claessen (1563–1624), Dutch founder of the New Netherland Company
- Hans von Dohnanyi (1902–1945), German jurist and resistance fighter
- Hans Otto Hoheisen (1905–2003), South African conservationist and philanthropist
- Hans Mayer (1907–2001), German literary scholar
- Hannes Meyer (or Hans Emil Meyer, 1889–1954), Swiss architect and second director of the Bauhaus
- Hans Niemann (born 2003), American chess player
- Hans Scholl (1918–1943), German resistance fighter
- Hans Wesemann (1895–1971), German journalist and Gestapo agent
- Hans Wittwer (1894–1952), Swiss architect and Bauhaus teacher
- John, King of Denmark, a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union.
- Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein.
- Hans-Adam II, the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, since 1989.
- Characters named Hans in Grimms' Fairy Tales:
- Clever Hans
- Hans in Luck
- Hans Married
- Hans My Hedgehog
- Hans Stupid
- Strong Hans
- Hans, a character in the 1992 American sports comedy-drama movie The Mighty Ducks
- Hans Brinker, Dutch ice skater in 1865 novel by American author Mary Mapes Dodge
- Hans, a henchman of James Bond's opponent in You Only Live Twice
- Hans, a German enemy character in the fighting game Human Killing Machine
- Hans Castorp, main character in The Magic Mountain
- Hans, a supporting character in SpongeBob SquarePants
- Hans Guck-in-die-Luft, a character from one of the poems in Struwwelpeter
- Hans Moleman, from The Simpsons
- Hans Geering, in the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
- Hans Gruber, antagonist from Die Hard
- Hans, Disney character and the main antagonist of Frozen
- Hans, one of the main characters from the 1990s animated movie The Nutcracker Prince
- Hans Zarkov, protagonist from Flash Gordon
- Hans Gudegast, the name given to the mountain climber in Cliff Hangers, a pricing game on the U.S. television game show The Price Is Right
- Hans Landa, from Inglourious Basterds
- Hans Volter, the main antagonist from the video game Killing Floor 2
- Super Hans, in the British TV comedy Peep Show
- Hans and Franz, recurring sketch characters on Saturday Night Live
- Sgt Hans Schultz, in the situational comedy Hogan's Heroes, portrayed by John Banner
- Hans Axgil, from the novel The Danish Girl, played by Matthias Schoenaerts in the 2015 film of the same name
- Hans Hubermann, the foster father of Liesel Meminger from the novel The Book Thief
- Hans, in Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Hanschen Rilow, from the musical Spring Awakening
- Hans Zoë (also translated as Hange Zoë or Hanji Zoë), from the manga series Attack on Titan
- Hans-Jörg Butt (born 1974), German footballer
- Hans-Christian Hausenberg (born 1998), Estonian decathlete and long jumper
- Hans-Hermann Hoppe (born 1949), libertarian writer and theorist
- Hans-Ulrich Indermaur (born 1939), Swiss television moderator, reporter, and writer
- Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff (1921–1998), German actor and presenter
- Hans-Joachim Marseille (1919–1942) German captain and fighter pilot, flying ace during the World War II
- Hans-Ulrich Rudel (1916–1982), German ground-attack pilot, the most decorated German serviceman in World War II
- Hanns, a given name
- Hansen (surname)
- Hanson (surname)
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
