Hanania family عائلة حنانيا
Levantine Christian family
Current region	Palestine/Israel, Jordan, Lebanon; diaspora in the Americas, Europe, Oceania
Place of origin	Jerusalem (Ottoman Palestine)
Members	Richard Hanania Jurji Ḥabīb Hanania; Anastas Hanania; Daoud Hanania; Ghazi Hanania; Ray Hanania; Tony Hanania; Amira Hanania
Traditions	Arabic-speaking; Greek Orthodox (Rum Orthodox) affiliation

The Hanania family (Arabic: حنانيا) is a Levantine Christian family historically centered in Jerusalem, with documented evidence for their presence as early as the 1st century AD through the British Mandate and into the Jordanian era. ^[1]

Hanania trace their ancestry to early Jewish converts to Christianity in first-century Jerusalem. Archaeological finds from the area—such as wine and oil jugs inscribed with the name “Hanania” indicate those bearing this name lived in the region during antiquity.^[2]

Notable members include the newspaper founder Jurji Ḥabīb Hanania (est. the Arabic daily al-Quds in 1908), jurist and minister Anastas Hanania, cardiac surgeon Daoud (Daʾūd) Hanania, Palestinian legislator Ghazi Hanania, Palestinian-American journalist Ray Hanania, novelist Tony (Antonios) Hanania, and diplomat/filmmaker Amira Hanania.

The surname Hanania (Arabic: حنانيا) derives from the Aramaic personal name Hananyah, meaning “God has been gracious.” ^[3]The name appears in Jewish and early Christian sources, including references to Hananiah (Ananias) in the Bible, and was used by the family to associate their lineage with the saint. ^[4] The use of Hananyah as a given name among Levantine Christians likely dates back to antiquity and later developed into a hereditary surname in Arabic-speaking regions, where it has been borne almost exclusively by Christian families.^[5]

Family oral traditions maintain that the Hanania lineage traces its ancestry to early Jewish converts to Christianity in first-century Jerusalem, often referred to as the Jewish Christians. Archaeological discoveries in the Jerusalem area, including wine and oil jugs inscribed with the name “Hanania”, confirm the presence of individuals bearing the name in antiquity.^{[6] [7]}

By the Ottoman period, the Hanania family was well established in Jerusalem and recognized as part of the city’s long-standing Greek Orthodox Christian community. Historical accounts describe the Hananias as one of Jerusalem’s notable Christian families, rooted in the city for several generations.^[8] One branch, known as Habib Hanania, distinguished itself from unrelated families of similar name by adopting a double-barreled form of the surname.^[9]

Members of the family rose to prominence during the late Ottoman and British Mandate periods through careers in law, education, publishing, and public service. ʿIssa Habib Hanania served as the only Christian judge on Jerusalem’s Supreme Court in the late nineteenth century^[10] while Jurji Habib Hanania (1864–1920) founded the Arabic newspaper Al-Quds in 1908, marking a milestone in Palestinian journalism.^[11] Later generations continued in public life, notably Anastas Hanania (1903–1995), who became a Jordanian minister, diplomat, and signatory of the 1952 Constitution of Jordan. “Anastas Hanania.” and his son Dr. Daoud Hanania (born 1934), a pioneering cardiac surgeon and director of the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman.^[12]

Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, most members of the family were ethnically cleansed from their homes in West Jerusalem and made refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Palestinian diaspora. The family’s dispersion led to several regional branches: in Jordan (Amman), where they integrated into professional and public life; in Lebanon, where figures such as Professor Farid S. Hanania (1908–2007) taught international law at the American University of Beirut;^[13]and in the Americas, where early emigrants such as George John Hanania (1901–1987) settled in the United States and founded a family line that includes journalist Ray Hanania (born 1953).Ray Hanania, ^[14] Today, members of the Hanania family remain active in public, academic, and cultural life across the Middle East and the global Palestinian diaspora, maintaining an identity rooted in their historical association with Jerusalem’s Christian community.^[15]

• Anastas Hanania (1903–1995), Palestinian-Jordanian lawyer
• Daoud Hanania (born 1934), Jordanian heart surgeon
• Eleazar ben Hanania (c. 1st century AD), Jewish leader
• Ghazi Hanania (born 1945), politician
• Ray Hanania (born 1953), American journalist and stand-up comedian
• Richard Hanania (born 1985), American political commentator

• Beit Hanania, moshav in Israel
• Hanania Baer (born 1943), Israeli cinematographer
• Wakim (Levantine family)
• Jewish Christianity