Hans (name)

Hans
PronunciationUS: /hɑːnz/ HAHNZ, UK: /hænz/ HANZ
Danish: [hænˀs]
German: [hans] ⓘ
Dutch: [ɦɑns] ⓘ
GenderMale
Name dayOctober 25 (Germany)
August 29 (Sweden)
June 24th (Norway, Estonia, Denmark)
December 27 (Finland)
Origin
Word/namePet form of Johannes
Meaning"God has been gracious"[1]
Region of originGerman, Dutch, Scandinavian
Other names
Pet form(s)Hampus
Related namesHanni, Hanno, Hánno, Hannu, Hánsa, Hansi, Hanski, Hanssi, Hanse, Hansu, Hensar, Hampe, Hanseraq, Hansinnguaq, Hasse

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]

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.

Alternative forms

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:

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

People named Hans

Arts and entertainment

Authors

Music

Painters and sculptors

Other arts and entertainment

Medicine

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

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

Other fields

Fictional characters

See also

References

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ Dahl, Árni (2005). Navnabókin. ISBN 9789991849393.[page needed]
  3. ^ Otterbjörk, Roland (1979). Svenska förnamn. ISBN 9789121109373.[page needed]
  4. ^ Stemshaug, Ola; Kruken, Kristoffer (1995). Norsk Personnamnleksikon. ISBN 978-8252120363.[page needed]
  5. ^ Meldgaard, Eva Villarsen (2004). Den store navnebog. ISBN 9788711160435.[page needed]
  • Hans on BehindTheName.com