Annaba was not always called Annaba. The Phoenicians called it Hipponensis Sinus, and when the Romans took the city after defeating the Carthage in the second Punic war, they changed its name to Hippo Regius. It then become the center for early Christianity, renowned as the place where St. Augustine lived his last years. As the aged scholar lay upon his deathbed, the Vandals were laying siege to the city outside. Hippo Regius became the capital of the Vandals kingdom for a decade until forces of the Byzantine Empire defeated the last Vandal King in the year 439.
In the late 7Th Century, the wave of Islamic conquest swept the over the city named Beleb-el-Annab. In 1832 France took over the city and was renamed once again, this time to Bone. After the conclusion of the Algerian war of Independence in 1962, many place names changed or given by the French were arabicized. So it was that Bone became Annaba.
Source info from: Algeria.com
