Hannah's name expresses the very principle that her story comes to teach: the power of prayer.
There are many similarities between the story of Hannah and the account of Rachel's barrenness prior to the birth of Yosef. What are we meant to learn from these literary similarities? It seems that the comparison comes only to sharpen the differences between the two main characters, Rachel and Hannah, especially with respect to the way they contended with their barrenness.
The path taken by Rachel until she gave birth to Yosef was long and winding. Already at the beginning of the story we come across Rachel’s jealousy of her sister. Rachel first turns to Yaakov with a demand for a child. Afterwards, Rachel tries to be remembered with a child by giving Bilha her maidservant to Yaakov. In the continuation, Rachel asks Leah for the mandrakes, which were known to be a remedy for infertility. Only after all these stages do we read that Rachel was remembered with a child. From now on Rachel does not cease to pray to God: a thanksgiving prayer about the past and a request for the future, that He will grant her another son. Finally, Rachel reaches full trust in God.
Against the background of the long process that Rachel had undergone, Hannah's greatness is striking. First, whereas Rachel is jealous of her sister, Hannah remains silent in the face of Penina. The second and most essential element of the comparison is while Rachel followed a long process until she turned to God in prayer, Hannah this took the route of prayer from the outset. Furthermore, whereas after she was remembered with a child, Rachel continued to ask for another child, Hannah gives up the very child she prayed for to God’s service.
Through the literary similarity with Rachel, Scripture strengthens Hannah's personality, both in her great faith in God and in her relations with those around her. It might very well be that the name Hannah derives from the root ch-n-n, in the sense of supplication. If this is true, then Hannah's name expresses the very principle that her story comes to teach: the power of prayer.