A 19th-century translator, faced with a cuneiform tablet from Ur and a Phrygian inscription from Pessinus, wrote “Nana” in the margin of both. He assumed the names referred to the same goddess. He was wrong. The two figures share a phonetic coincidence, not a lineage. One is a mother goddess who conceived through an almond. The other is a bearded moon god who measured time for shepherds. A third Nanna, from the Norse Eddas, complicates the matter further.
Nana and Nanna are three distinct deities from separate pantheons: the Phrygian mother goddess Nana, the Sumerian moon god Nanna (also called Sin), and the Norse goddess Nanna, wife of Baldr. The spelling overlap is accidental, rooted in different languages and eras, but the confusion persists in modern occult and mythological reference works.
Where Did the Confusion Begin?
The trouble started in the 19th century, when European philologists encountered two ancient names that looked almost identical in transliteration. The Phrygian goddess Nana (Νάνα) appeared in Greek sources describing the cult of Cybele. The Sumerian moon god Nanna (𒀭𒋀) appeared in cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia. Both were rendered “Nana” in early translations, and some scholars assumed a single deity had migrated across the Near East.
The assumption was understandable but incorrect. The Phrygian Nana is first attested in the 8th century BCE, in inscriptions from central Anatolia. The Sumerian Nanna appears much earlier, around 4000 BCE, in the archaic texts of Uruk. No linguistic or mythological bridge connects them. The name Nana may derive from a Lydian or Phrygian word for “mother,” while Nanna is a Sumerian compound meaning “lord of the sky” (from n “lord” and anna “sky”). The resemblance is a coincidence of transliteration, not a shared etymology.
A third figure entered the confusion later. The Norse Nanna, wife of Baldr, appears in the Poetic Edda (compiled in the 13th century CE) and in Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. Her name is Old Norse, probably related to nanna “mother” or “daring one.” No connection to the Sumerian or Phrygian names exists, but the identical spelling in modern English has led many readers to conflate all three.
Nana: The Phrygian Mother of Attis
Nana is a Phrygian goddess known almost exclusively through the myth of Attis. According to the 3rd-century CE writer Pausanias (Description of Greece 7.17.9), Nana was a virgin who conceived Attis by placing a ripe almond in her bosom. The almond came from a tree that grew from the severed genitals of the hermaphroditic being Agdistis. This is a fertility myth: the almond, a symbol of life emerging from a hard shell, represents the spontaneous generation of divine life.
Nana is often identified with the Great Mother Cybele, but the texts distinguish them. In the Phrygian tradition, Nana is a local mother figure, not the cosmic mountain goddess. Her cult was likely centered in Pessinus, where the black stone of Cybele was kept. No temples dedicated solely to Nana have been excavated. She appears primarily as a narrative figure, a necessary step in the birth of Attis, whose death and resurrection became central to the Roman cult of Cybele.
The almond remained her symbol. In Roman mystery rites, initiates may have handled almonds or almond-shaped objects to commemorate the virgin birth. The almond’s five-pointed star inside the shell, visible when cut crosswise, was read as a sign of the goddess’s hidden fertility.
Nanna: The Sumerian Moon God
Nanna (also called Sin, from the Akkadian Su’en) is one of the oldest attested deities in Mesopotamia. He is the moon god, patron of Ur, and father of the sun god Utu (Shamash) and the goddess Inanna (Ishtar). His symbol is the crescent moon, often depicted as a boat carrying him across the night sky.
The Sumerians saw Nanna as a shepherd who counted the days. His phases marked the calendar, and his name appears in the earliest known lunar calendars from the Jemdet Nasr period (c. 3100 BCE). In the city of Ur, his temple was the Ekishnugal, a massive ziggurat that dominated the landscape. The famous Standard of Ur (c. 2500 BCE) shows scenes of feasting and war that may have been tied to Nanna’s festivals.
Nanna was male, bearded, and often shown with a crescent crown. He was a god of wisdom, not because he knew secrets, but because he measured time. The moon’s regular cycle made him a keeper of order. In the Sumerian King List, rulers claimed authority from Nanna, and the city of Ur was said to be his earthly home.
The confusion with the Phrygian Nana arises because early translators saw “Nana” in cuneiform and assumed a female goddess. The Sumerian Nanna is unambiguously male. The Akkadian name Sin is also male. No ancient source describes Nanna as female.
Nanna: The Norse Wife of Baldr
The Norse Nanna is a different figure entirely. She appears in the Eddas as the wife of Baldr, the beloved god who dies from a mistletoe dart. When Baldr’s body is placed on his ship Hringhorni for the funeral pyre, Nanna dies of grief and is laid beside him. Snorri Sturluson (Gylfaginning 49) describes how her heart broke when she saw Baldr’s corpse.
Her name is Old Norse, possibly meaning “mother” or “the daring one.” She is not a moon goddess, not a mother goddess, and not a fertility figure. She is a wife and mourner, a figure of loyalty and grief. In the post-Christian Eddas, she may have been a minor goddess or a human woman elevated to divine status. No cult or temple is associated with her.
The spelling Nanna is identical to the Sumerian name, but the two have no historical connection. The confusion in modern occult literature often lumps Norse Nanna with the Sumerian moon god, creating a hybrid that never existed.
How to Tell Them Apart in Practice
When you encounter the name in a text, context is everything.
- Nana (one n, usually Greek or Roman context) is the Phrygian mother of Attis. Look for almonds, virgin birth, and Cybele.
- Nanna (two n’s, Sumerian or Akkadian context) is the moon god of Ur. Look for crescent moons, shepherds, and calendars.
- Nanna (Norse context) is Baldr’s wife. Look for funeral pyres, grief, and the Eddas.
A simple mnemonic: the Sumerian Nanna has two n’s, like the two horns of the crescent moon. The Phrygian Nana has one n, like the single almond that gave her a son.
Common Misconceptions
“Nana and Nanna are the same deity.” No. They belong to different pantheons, different genders, and different historical periods. The spelling similarity is accidental.
“Nanna is a moon goddess.” The Sumerian Nanna is male. The Norse Nanna has no lunar association. The Phrygian Nana is a mother goddess, not a moon goddess.
“Nana is a form of Inanna.” Inanna is the Sumerian goddess of love and war, daughter of Nanna. The names are unrelated. Nana is Phrygian; Inanna is Sumerian.
“The Norse Nanna is the same as the Sumerian Nanna.” No evidence supports this. The names converge in modern English transliteration, but the languages and cultures are separated by thousands of years.
FAQ
Is Nana the same as Nanna?
No. Nana is a Phrygian mother goddess; Nanna is a Sumerian moon god. They are distinct deities from different pantheons.
Is Nanna a male or female deity?
The Sumerian Nanna is male. The Norse Nanna is female. The Phrygian Nana is female. Gender depends on which deity you mean.
What is the myth of Nana and the almond?
Nana conceived Attis by placing an almond in her bosom. The almond grew from the severed genitals of Agdistis, symbolizing spontaneous fertility.
How is Nanna related to the moon?
Nanna is the Sumerian moon god, patron of Ur. He measured time by his phases and was depicted with a crescent crown.
The names Nana and Nanna will continue to trip up readers. Knowing which one you are dealing with requires attention to context, language, and culture. For deeper study of mother goddess traditions, see our guide to the divine feminine. For the symbols associated with lunar deities, visit the glossary of moon gods. And for the full myth of Attis and Cybele, read our guide to Phrygian goddesses.