Anias is likely related to Ananias, a biblical name from Hebrew meaning 'Yahweh has been gracious.'
Anias occupies a fascinating etymological space, connecting ancient Hebrew scripture to modern American naming creativity. The name most closely echoes Ananias, a Hellenized form of the Hebrew Chananya (חֲנַנְיָה), meaning 'God has been gracious' — the same root that gives us Hannah, Anna, and John. In the New Testament, the name Ananias appears three times: as the husband of Sapphira who dies after lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5), as the disciple in Damascus who restores Saul's sight and baptizes him following his road-to-Damascus conversion (Acts 9), and as the High Priest before whom Paul appears on trial (Acts 23).
The name thus carries both cautionary and redemptive biblical weight. Anias also rhymes with and visually resembles Aeneas — the Trojan hero of Virgil's 'Aeneid,' the epic poem that provided Rome with its founding mythology. Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus and the mortal Anchises, carries his father from burning Troy and eventually establishes the line that will found Rome.
The name entered English literary consciousness through Virgil's great poem and through Shakespeare's references in Troilus and Cressida. Whether or not parents choosing Anias have this connection in mind, the sonic resonance is real. In contemporary use, Anias functions as a subtle, elegant variant of the Ananias/Anias family — softer than the full biblical form, more distinctive than the common Anna or Anna-derivatives. It has a melodious, vaguely Mediterranean quality that works across ethnic backgrounds, and its relative rarity means a child bearing it is unlikely to share it with classmates.