See the results of this poll: Do you prefer Anna or Grace?
Respondents: 37 (This poll is closed)
- Anna : 27 (71%)
- Grace: 11 (29%)
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] means grace. So if you choose it, you technically get both names in one shot!
Coincidentally, [name_f]Ann[/name_f] and [name_f]Grace[/name_f] are also my favorite classical names, and I don’t know if I could ever choose between the two. In your poll I voted for [name_f]Grace[/name_f] for the sole fact that my favorite form is [name_f]Ann[/name_f] - [name_f]Anna[/name_f] and [name_f]Anne[/name_f] are OK, but nothing really special.
I voted [name_f]Anna[/name_f] but they are both lovely. It would depend on the last name.
I prefer [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. It’s classic, and generally sweet and demure, but with shades of darkness to it while [name_f]Grace[/name_f] has always been a bit too sweet for me. I’m reading [name_f]Anna[/name_f] Karenina right now though so maybe it’s skewing my impressions… [name_f]Anna[/name_f] is a flawed character but a beautiful one at that.
I like both, but I prefer [name_f]Anna[/name_f] mostly because I feel that [name_f]Grace[/name_f]'s one syllable can sound flat and it’s over-used as a middle name where I grew up (thus making it slightly less interesting).
It’s hard to say I prefer one or the other. They’re both nice names, simple and classic.
I think I would prefer to be named [name_f]Anna[/name_f] because I feel like [name_f]Annie[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f]/[name_f]Anna[/name_f] could fit almost any type of girl, whereas [name_f]Grace[/name_f] brings a certain type of person to mind and doesn’t have as many options.
Honestly, both names are great picks. [name_m]Both[/name_m] are sleek, timeless, and beautiful.
I feel like I see lots of comments on Nameberry that focus on [name_f]Grace[/name_f] being a name to live up to or that fits “a certain type of person” and this confuses me because I have a double-barrel name that includes [name_f]Grace[/name_f]. It’s the part of my name that makes it mine, so I’ve always viewed this name positively, and the Graces I’ve met over the years have generally been spunky, clever, smart, and fun. So I’m awfully confused as to where ideas like “What if [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is anything but graceful?” (I know I’ve seen that in the comments in a blog post) come from. There are different types of grace: physical grace, emotional grace (handling things well, which is a skill to be learned), and divine grace. And those are just the kinds that come to mind at the moment.
I don’t want to call anyone out–everyone is entitled to their opinion on a name–but this view of [name_f]Grace[/name_f] frustrates me because this name means so much to me–it’s part of my identity. Has anyone else wondered why this view of [name_f]Grace[/name_f] tends to pop up?
I am thinking people might picture graceful beauty, model type, because of [name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_u]Kelly[/name_u]. Maybe?
I prefer [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. [name_m]Both[/name_m] conjure up images of grace, elegance, beauty, but I don’t think the sound of [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is as nice as [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. [name_f]Anna[/name_f] just rolls off the tongue for me.
I do like the nn [name_f]Gracie[/name_f] though.
My favorite is [name_f]Anne[/name_f], but [name_f]Anna[/name_f]'s a close second.
I love [name_f]Anna[/name_f] or Annagrace even if people comment of the smoosh-name factor. But isn’t that how [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f] or [name_f]Annabeth[/name_f] was created technically?
I really didn’t mean that I wouldn’t use [name_f]Grace[/name_f] because I’d be worried my daughter wouldn’t be graceful (in one way or another :)).
I think [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is a beautiful name, and I too have met several [name_f]Grace[/name_f]'s who were spunky and fun and not necessarily meek dancers.
But when I think of [name_f]Annie[/name_f] or [name_f]Anna[/name_f] or [name_f]Ann[/name_f] I can imagine almost any type of person–a rock climber or a sharp shooter or a queen or a teacher or an executive or a mother or a doctor or a performer. Mainly I guess, that’s because there are so many examples throughout history of women named [name_f]Ann[/name_f]/a doing those sorts of things.
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] is more uncommon and the quality of grace is the first thing that springs to mind, so it’s harder to imagine a [name_f]Grace[/name_f] who is a pro-wrestler or a truck driver or a clown. Not that she couldn’t be.
There are plenty of other names that have the same issue. If you set [name_f]Anna[/name_f] against names like [name_f]Mercy[/name_f], [name_f]Cindy[/name_f], [name_f]Laurel[/name_f] or [name_f]Fern[/name_f] you’d get similar responses about [name_f]Anna[/name_f] being more versatile. Not that [name_f]Cindy[/name_f] can’t be an executive or that [name_f]Mercy[/name_f] can’t be a prison guard or [name_f]Fern[/name_f] can’t live in a high rise hating nature, just that because they are less common they have more specific associations.
My oldest is [name_f]Grace[/name_f]. She is spunky, sweet, beautiful, and yes, a bit clumsy. Maybe it’s because I have used the name [name_f]Grace[/name_f], but I think she makes the name. I think she would be the same little girl regardless of her name, but her name suits her very well. To me, it is one of the most perfect names.
I love both, but voted [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. [name_f]Anne[/name_f] is my favorite name and [name_f]Anna[/name_f] is close.
Thank you, all. We decided we preferred [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. We like that it honors both my late grandma and my late sister.