ninan.org

Dana

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~218,200 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,027 among girls
Births in 2025
269 246,842 since 1880
Typical age
52 years, median

Dana popularity over time

Dana rank by birth year, 1882–2025Dana ranked #813 in 1882 and #1,027 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #44, in 1971.#100#1,000#1,027best #44 in 197118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1882–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Dana was used most in 1971, when 8,032 babies were given the name. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Dana has spent 26 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #1,027, on 269 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 26%. Year on year the rank improved by 50.

Babies named Dana per yearPeaks at 8,032 births in 1971.8,032 in 1971018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Dana?

About 218,200 people named Dana are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 246,842 births under the name since 1880. The split is about 178,100 women and 40,100 men.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Dana?

Half of living Danas are older than 52, half younger. The 1970s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Dana a late 20th-century name.

Your Dana

Ages of living people named DanaHalf of living Danas are older than 52 and half younger.median 52020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Dana is most common

Dana is 1.7× as common in New Jersey as it is nationally. Massachusetts, New York and Virginia follow.

Where Dana is used more than average5 states use the name Dana more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.4× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 1.7× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.3× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: 1.4× the national rateVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 1.5× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Dana is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Jersey 107 1.7×
Massachusetts 67 1.5×
New York 208 1.4×
Virginia 86 1.4×
California 420 1.3×

Is Dana a boy's or a girl's name?

78% girls22% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

The name leans girls, but 9.2% of births in the last decade were boys. Across the whole record, 78.4% of births under the name were girls. The name has changed sides: it began mostly on one sex and ends mostly on the other.

Dana in England and Wales

ONS recorded 39 births named Dana in 2025, ranking it #894. That is 39% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Dana comes from

Possibly from Dawnay, or else an altered form of Dan or Daniel.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Dana

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Dana International Israeli singer 1969 57
Dana Delany American actress 1956 53
Dana Andrews American actor 1909–1992 44
Dana White American businessman and president of UFC 1969 42
Dana Zátopková Czech javelin thrower 1922–2020 40
Dana Rosemary Scallon Northern Irish singer and politician 1951 40
Dana Scott American mathematician and computer scientist 1932 37
Dana Snyder American actor and comedian 1973 37
Photo credits (7)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Dana

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/dana.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).