Nana (given name)
Nana is a given name that has different origins in several countries across the world. Its use as a feminine or masculine name varies culturally. It is feminine in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Georgia, Serbia, Cyprus, Greece and Finland, it is masculine in Ethiopia and India, and epicene in Ghana and Indonesia. In Georgia, Nana is the fifth most popular given name for girls. In Ghana, among the Akan people, particularly the Akyem, Ashanti and Akuapim peoples, Nana is used as the title of a monarch to signify their status. Furthermore, the stool names of kings and queens are always preceded by Nana. Non-royal Ghanaian people also use Nana as a given name. In some cases, they may adopt the name Nana, if they have been named after a monarch. In Ghana, one can respectfully refer to a King or Queen as Nana without mentioning their full name; much like using "Your Highness".
In India, nana means father in Telugu language and grandpa in Hindi and Urdu language from the mother's side.
In Britain, Australia and New Zealand Nana or nana means grandmother.
People
Acting
- Nana Ama McBrown, a Ghanaian actress
- Nana Asakawa, a Japanese voice actress
- Nana Bryant, an American film actress
- Nana Eikura, a Japanese model and actress
- , a Ghanaian actor
- Nana Gouvêa, a Brazilian actress
- Nana Han, a South Korean actress
- Nana Jorjadze, a Georgian film director and scriptwriter
- Nana Katase, a Japanese actress
- , a Japanese model and actress
- Nana Komatsu, a Japanese model and actress
- , an Indonesian actress
- Nana Ozaki (actress), a Japanese actress
- Nana Palsikar, an Indian film actor
- Nana Patekar, an Indian actor and filmmaker
- Nana Visitor, an American actress
- Nana Yamaguchi, a Japanese voice actress
- Nana Yanagisawa, a Japanese actress and fashion model
Art
- Nana Haruta, a Japanese manga artist
- Nana Meskhidze, a Georgian artist-painter
Music
- Nana (entertainer), a South Korean actress and singer
- Nana (rapper), a German rapper and DJ
- , a Taiwanese singer
- Nana Caymmi, a Brazilian singer
- , a German actress and singer
- Nana Hedin, a Swedish singer
- Nana Kitade, a Japanese J-Rock singer
- Nana Mahazan, a Malaysian Akademi Fantasia contestant
- Nana Mizuki, a Japanese voice actress and singer
- Nana Mori, a Japanese actress and singer
- Nana Mouskouri, a Greek singer
- Nana Okada (singer, born 1959), a Japanese idol and actress
- Nana Okada, a Japanese idol and member of the groups AKB48 & STU48
- Nana Ou-yang, a Taiwanese actress and singer
- Nana Owada, a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48
- Nana Kwame Abrokwa, a German rapper and DJ
- Nana Tanimura, a Japanese pop singer
- Naná Vasconcelos, a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player
- , a Chinese record producer
Politics
- Nana (chief), a Chiricahua Apache leader
- Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana
- Nana Effah-Apenteng, the Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations
- Nana Fadnavis, an influential minister and statesman of the Maratha Empire in Pune, India
- , a Chinese Politician
- Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah, Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II
- Nana of Iberia, a 4th-century Georgian queen
- Nana Olomu, an Itsekiri chief and merchant from the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria
- Nana Osei Bonsu II, the regent of the Ashanti Kingdom
- Nana Owusu-Nsiah, a Ghanaian diplomat and ambassador
- Nana Patil, an Indian independence activist
- Nana Sahib, an Indian leader during the rebellion of 1857
- Nana Sir Ofori Atta I, a King of Akyem Abuakwa in 1912
Religion
- Nana Dharmadhikari, an Indian spiritual guru
- Nana of Pécs, a 12th-century bishop in the Kingdom of Hungary
Sports
- Nana Alexandria, a Georgian chess Grandmaster
- Nana Arhin Duah, a Ghanaian football player
- Nana Attakora, a Canadian football player
- Nana Boateng (footballer, born 1994), a Ghanaian football player
- Nana Boateng (footballer, born 2002), an English football player
- Nana Eshun, a Ghanaian football player
- Nana Eshun (footballer, born 1982), a Ghanaian football player
- Nana Falemi, a Romanian-Cameroonian football player
- Nana Fujimoto, Japanese ice hockey player
- Nana Ichise, Japanese woman footballer
- Nana Ioseliani, a Georgian chess player
- Nana Iwasaka, a Japanese volleyball player
- Nana Joshi, a cricketer
- Nana Konadu, a retired Ghanaian boxer
- Nana Kuffour, a Ghanaian-American soccer player
- Nana Miyagi, a Japanese American tennis player
- Nana Ofori-Twumasi, a professional Ghanaian-born English footballer
- Nana Takeda, a Japanese figure skater
- Nana Wu, a Chinese handball player
Other
- Nana Asma’u, a poet, teacher and a revered figure in northern Nigeria
- Nana Chudasama, an eminent jurist, former mayor and Sheriff of Mumbai
- Nana Keum, a South Korean author and beauty pageant titleholder
- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, a US-American author
- Nana Nánabeszter, a 13th century Hungarian nobleman and soldier
- Nana Natsume, a Japanese former AV idol and celebrity
- Nana Ozaki, a Japanese gravure idol
Fictional characters
- Nana, a grandma in Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs
- Nana, the Newfoundland dog nurse of Wendy, John and Michael in Peter Pan
- Nana, the protagonist of Émile Zola's novel, Nana
- Nana, a character in the Elfen Lied series
- Nana, one of the two playable characters in the video game Ice Climber
- Nana, a rabbit character from Cyborg Kuro-chan
- Nana, a character in the novel Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
- Nana, a female cat humanoid character in Mobile Legends
- Nana Aokaze, a character in the 2025 anime series You and Idol Pretty Cure
- Nana Asahina, minor character from the tokusatsu Kamen Rider Kuuga
- Nana Astar Deviluke, a character in the manga series To Love Ru
- Nana Daiba, a character in the Revue Starlight franchise
- Nana Dawson, a character in Heroes
- Nana Heeler, the mother of Bandit Heeler in Bluey
- Nana Hiiragi, the protagonist in the Japanese manga, Talentless Nana
- Nana Komatsu (Nana), a character in the Japanese manga Nana
- Nana McQueen, a character in Hollyoaks
- Nana Mikazuki, a character in Time Patrol Tai Otasukeman
- Nana Moon, a character in the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders
- Nana Osaki, a character in the Japanese manga Nana
- Nana Oyl, the mother of cartoon character Olive Oyl
- Nana Shimura, a character in the popular Japanese manga, My Hero Academia
- Nana Shinozaki, a character in the 2023 anime series Power of Hope: PreCure Full Bloom
- Nana Sunohara, a character from the Japanese manga Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou
- Nana Kōgei Ciel, a character in the music game ''Sound Voltex''