Hans (name)
Hans is a Germanic masculine given name in German, Danish, Dutch, Faroese, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish-speaking populations. It was originally short for Johannes, but is now also recognized as a name in its own right for official purposes. The earliest documented usage was in 1356 in Sweden, 1360 in Norway, and the 14th century in Denmark.
The name "Hansel" is a variant, meaning "little Hans". Another variant with the same meaning is Hänschen, 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".
Other variants include: Han, Hawns, Hanns, Hannes, Hanse, Hansi, Hansele, Hansal, Hensal, Hanserl, Hännschen, Hennes, Hännes, Hänneschen, Henning, Henner, Honsa, Johan, Johann, Jan, Jannes, Jo, Joha, Hanselmann, Hansje.
Alternate forms
Pet, diminutive, alternative and other language forms are:- Hannes
- Honza
- Hovhannes ; Յովհաննէս )
- Jack
- Johnny/Johnnie
- John
- Yohanna the Arabic language derivative. Used among Arabic-speaking Christians.
- Yahya, used among Arab and non-Arab Muslims.
- Eoin
- Evan, Ifan
- Jevan
- Giovanni, Gianni
- Ġwanni, Ġwann, Ġanni
- Jan
- Ján
- Janez, diminutives: Jan, Jani, Janko
- János ; diminutives: Jancsi, Jani
- Johan
- Chuan
- Joan
- Jean
- Jehan,, still in use, but rare
- Yann
- João
- Xoan, Xan
- Johannes
- Johan
- Jón
- Jonas
- Jovan
- Juan
- Juhani, Juha, Jukka
- Ansis
- Ian
- Ion
- Ivan
- Sean
- Shane
- Shaun
- Shawn
- Siôn
- Yohani
- Yohanes
- Giuàn
- Hansina
- Hanne/Hanna
- Ioana
- Jana
- Jane
- Joana
- Jeanne
- Joanne
- Joan
- Johanna
- Johanne
- Jean
- Janice, Janet, both shortened as "Jan"
- Non-English variants adopted as English names include Jeanette
- Seònaid, Sinéad, Seònag
Notable people
Entertainment
- Hans Albers, German singer and actor, stage name Der blonde Hans
- Hans Clarin, German actor
- Hans Conried, comedian and actor
- Hansjörg Felmy, German actor
- Hans Klok, Dutch magician
- Hansi Knoteck, actress
- Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff,German actor and presenter
- Hans Matheson, Scottish actor
- Hans Moser , Austrian actor born Jean Julier
- Hans Heinz Moser, Swiss actor
- Hans Werner Olm, cabaret performer and comic
- Hans Rosenthal,, German entertainer and presenter, named Hänschen Rosenthal
- Hans H. Steinberg, German actor
- Hans Söhnker, actor
- Dolph Lundgren , Swedish actor and martial artist
Literature
- Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author
- Hans Henning Atrott, German author and theorist
- Hanns Heinz Ewers, German writer, poet, philosopher and actor
- Hans Fallada, German writer
- Hans Herbjørnsrud,, Norwegian author
- Hans Holzer, Austrian-American author and parapsychologist
- Hans Henny Jahnn, German playwright and novelist
- Hans Mayer, German literary scholar
- Hans Erich Nossack, German writer
Medicine
- Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician for whom Asperger syndrome is named
- Hans Berger, German neurologist
Music
- Hanns Eisler, Austrian composer
- Hans Guido von Bülow, German pianist and conductor
- Hans Gruber , Canadian conductor
- Hans Hartz, German singer
- Hans Werner Henze, German composer
- Hansi Kürsch German lead vocalist of power metal band Blind Guardian
- Hans Söllner, songwriter
- Hans Zimmer, German film composer
- Hans Poulsen, songwriter/musician
Politics and military
- Hans Apel, German politician
- Hans Aumeier, German Nazi SS deputy commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp executed for war crimes
- Hans Berndtson, Swedish Army lieutenant general
- Hans Blix, head of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission
- Hans Bothmann, German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans Claessen, founder of the New Netherland Company
- Hans, Count von Bülow, Prussian statesman
- Hans von Dohnanyi, German jurist and resistance fighter
- Hans Eichel, German politician
- Hans Filbinger, German politician
- Hans Frank, German Nazi lawyer and governor general of Nazi-occupied Poland executed for war crimes
- Hans Friderichs, German politician and businessman
- Hans Dietrich Genscher, German politician
- Hans Gualthérie van Weezel, Dutch politician and diplomat
- Hans Hagnell, Swedish politician
- Hans Helwig, German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans-Hermann Hoppe, libertarian writer and theorist
- Hans Hüttig, German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans Kalm, Estonian-born military officer
- Hans Koschnick, German politician
- Hans Krebs , Moravian-born Nazi SS officer executed for war crimes
- Hans Loritz, German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
- Hans Maier, politician
- Hans Hamilton, Anglo-Irish politician
- Hans Möser, German Nazi SS concentration camp officer executed for war crimes
- Hans Osara, lieutenant in the Cudgel War
- Hans Oster, German brigadier general and deputy head of military intelligence
- Hans Scholl, German resistance fighter
- Hans-Jochen Vogel, German politician
- Hans Wiegel, Dutch politician
- Hans von Luck, German officer
Science
- Hans Albert Einstein, professor of hydraulic engineering, son of Albert Einstein
- Hans Ankum, Dutch legal scholar
- Hans Avé Lallemant, Dutch-born American geologist
- Hans Bethe, Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis
- Hans Bos, Dutch biochemist and cancer researcher
- Hans Capel, Dutch physicist
- Hans Cohen, Dutch microbiologist
- Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields
- Hans Freeman, German-born Australian protein crystallographer who elucidated the structure of plastocyanin
- Hans Geiger, Inventor of the Geiger counter
- Hans Hass, Austrian diver, naturalist and film-maker
- Hans Adolf Krebs, German born, British physician and biochemist. Identified citric acid cycle
- Hans Lauda, Austrian industrialist
- Hans Lowey, Austrian-American chemist
- Hans Steffen, German geographer and explorer of Patagonia
Sports
- Hans-Jörg Butt, German football player
- Hans Dersch, American breaststroke swimmer
- Harold Goldsmith, born Hans Goldschmidt, American Olympic foil and épée fencer
- Hans Halberstadt, German-born American Olympic fencer
- Hans Knecht, Swiss road racing cyclist
- Hans Krankl, Austrian football player and trainer
- Hans Lutz, German track and road cyclist
- Hansi Müller, football player
- Hans Nüsslein, tennis player
- Hans Parrel, Dutch water polo player
- Hans Podlipnik-Castillo, Chilean tennis player
- Hans Sarpei, Ghanaian soccer player
- Hans Stolfus, American beach volleyball player
- Hans von Tschammer und Osten, sports director
- Hans Wouda, Dutch water polo player
Other
- Hans Werner Aufrecht was in 1967 along with Erhard Melcher one of the founders of AMG Engine Production and Development, a current subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz
- Hans Biebow, German chief of Nazi administration of the Łódź Ghetto executed for war crimes
- Hans Rudolf Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer
- Hans Wegner, Danish furniture designer
- Hans Holbein the Younger, German Renaissance Portraitist
- Hans-Joachim Marseille German captain and fighter pilot. Flying ace during the World War II.
- Hannes Meyer Swiss architect and 2nd Director of the Bauhaus.
- Hans Seyffer, sculptor
- Hans Wittwer, Swiss architect and Bauhaus teacher
Fictional characters
- Hans, a James Bond henchman 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 Moleman, character from The Simpsons
- Hans Geering, a character in the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
- Hans Gruber, fictional antagonist from Die Hard
- Hans, a fictional Disney character and the main antagonist of Frozen
- Hans, one of the main characters from the 1990s animated movie "The Nutcracker Prince"
- Hans Zarkov, fictional 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, fictional character from Inglourious Basterds
- Hans Volter, the main antagonist from the video game Killing Floor 2
- Super Hans, a character in the British TV comedy Peep Show
- Hans and Franz, recurring sketch characters on Saturday Night Live
- Sgt Hans Schultz, character in the situational comedy Hogan's Heroes
- Hans Axgil, a character 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, character in Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth".
- Hanschen Rilow, character from the acclaimed musical, ‘’Spring Awakening’’.
- Hans Zoë, character from the manga series Attack on Titan
- Muscular man and patient in Tales from the Crypt episode, "The Switch"