[5] Ana was the daughter of Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin and his third wife, Elizabeth of Hungary.
[13][14][15] During Ivan Stephen's one-year reign, Ana seems to have acted as co-ruler and held significant power.
In 1340, Ana was said to be about to depart for Italy, where her son Lodovico had received royal favor since 1338 and married Maria of Taranto, the illegitimate half-sister of the future King Louis I of Naples in 1342.
[20] At some point before 1357/1362, Ana had converted to Catholic Christianity like at least two of her sons (probably Ivan Stephen and certainly Lodovico), as reported by King Louis I of Naples to Pope Innocent VI.
[22][23] She was consecrated in the Serbian Orthodox Church as Venerable (prepodobna) "St. Jelena of Dečani" (Света Јелена Дечанска), her feast day is on June 3 (May 21, Julian calendar).
[24] However, it appears that Ana took the name Domenica as a convert to Catholic Christianity, and that this was subsequently translated as Neda (from "недеља" nedelja) in Serbian, which means "Sunday," the Day of the Lord (Dominus).