Dana

First Name
245k
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
6k
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
Boys
First
Last
On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Dana
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Dana
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Ethnicity Distribution
  9. Fun Facts
  10. What Danas Have Visited This Page?
  11. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Dana

Play Accuracy Source
80%
Automated Female (English)
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78%
Automated Male (English)
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78%
User from Texas, U.S.
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76%
User from South Africa
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75%
User from California, U.S.
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68%
User from North Carolina, U.S.
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65%
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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Dana mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Dana

User Submitted Origins

     Arabic
39%
     Danish
18%
     English
15%
     Persian/Iranian
12%
     Hebrew
6%
     Swedish
3%
     German
3%
     Mexican
3%

User Submitted Meanings

  • A user from Texas, United States says the name Dana is of Arabic origin and means "A rare type of pearl".
  • According to a user from Qatar, the name Dana is of Arabic origin and means "A rare type of pearl.".
  • According to a user from Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the name Dana is of Arabic origin and means "The pearl which is still in its shell.".
  • According to a user from Canada, the name Dana means "Pearl in Arabic".
  • A submission from Australia says the name Dana means "Wise" and is of Persian / Iranian origin.
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International Interest
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Other Dictionary Sources
  1. Celtic goddess who was the mother of the Tuatha De Danann; identified with the Welsh Don
    Synonyms: danu
Wiktionary
  1. An American surname​ of uncertain origin.
  2. (chiefly US) A male given name derived from the surname.
  3. A female given name usually interpreted as a form of Daniel, taken to use in the twentieth century; possibly borrowed from eastern Europe.
  4. A village in Illinois
  5. A town in Indiana
  6. A city/town in Iowa

Dana was also found in the following language(s): Czech, Latvian, Lower Sorbian, and Slovak

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Notable Persons Named Dana

Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah is a singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, model, comedian, talk show host, singing, rapping, actor, and model (people). Her ongoing career started in 1988. Queen was given the name Dana Elaine Owens on March 18th, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey, United States.

Popularity:
Dana White

Dana White is a businessman and philanthropist. Dana was given the name Dana Frederick White, Jr. on July 28th, 1969 in Manchester, Connecticut, United States.

Popularity:
Dana Carvey

Dana Carvey is an improvisational theatre, observational comedy, character comedy, and satire comedian. Dana was given the name Dana Thomas Carvey on June 2nd, 1955 in Missoula, Montana, United States.

Popularity:
Dana Delany

Dana Delany is an actress and producer. She has been prominent since 1974. Dana was given the name Dana Welles Delany on March 13th, 1956 in New York City.

Popularity:
Dana Brooke

Dana was born on November 29th, 1988 in Seven Hills, Ohio. Dana is also known as The best female body builder/wrestler in the world.

Popularity:
Dana Perino

Dana Perino is a 27th White House Press Secretary. Dana was born on May 9th, 1972 in Evanston, Wyoming.

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Notable Persons With the Last Name Dana

Dana

Dana is a singer-songwriter, actor, and actress. Dana was given the name Hong Sung-mi on July 17th, 1986.

Popularity:
Bill Dana

Bill Dana is an actor, comedian, and screenwriter. They were most active from 1956 to 1994. Bill was given the name William Szathmary on October 5th, 1924 in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Popularity:
Leora Dana

Leora Dana was an american film, tv, and stage actress. Her career lasted from 1956 to 1956. Leora was born on April 1st, 1923 in New York City, New York, U.S. She left this life on December 13th, 1983.

Popularity:
Paul Dana

Paul Dana was a racing driver. Paul was born on April 15th, 1975 in St. Louis. He died on March 26th, 2006.

Popularity:
Charles Anderson Dana

Charles Anderson Dana was a journalist and newspaper editor. Charles was born on August 8th, 1819 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. He left this life on October 17th, 1897.

Popularity:
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. was a writer. Richard was born on August 1st, 1815 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. They died on January 6th, 1882.

Popularity:
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How popular is the baby name Dana in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born Ranking
1880 12 0 12
1881 9 0 9
1882 20 6 14
1883 13 7 6
1884 21 10 11
1885 15 6 9
1886 16 8 8
1887 7 0 7
1888 14 8 6
1889 8 0 8
1890 14 7 7
1891 26 11 15
1892 18 8 10
1893 18 8 10
1894 20 7 13
1895 21 9 12
1896 23 13 10
1897 17 10 7
1898 21 12 9
1899 30 15 15
1900 39 20 19
1901 17 6 11
1902 15 6 9
1903 23 14 9
1904 22 11 11
1905 22 7 15
1906 25 10 15
1907 26 11 15
1908 29 15 14
1909 29 13 16
1910 40 21 19
1911 39 13 26
1912 63 18 45
1913 75 22 53
1914 103 39 64
1915 126 37 89
1916 130 45 85
1917 153 55 98
1918 173 66 107
1919 134 51 83
1920 167 69 98
1921 196 89 107
1922 193 65 128
1923 190 80 110
1924 179 67 112
1925 195 79 116
1926 194 80 114
1927 225 84 141
1928 198 69 129
1929 209 87 122
1930 199 76 123
1931 225 95 130
1932 223 93 130
1933 242 108 134
1934 223 95 128
1935 248 128 120
1936 286 168 118
1937 283 150 133
1938 283 151 132
1939 313 169 144
1940 386 245 141
1941 426 282 144
1942 476 314 162
1943 603 417 186
1944 763 503 260
1945 985 645 340
1946 1,289 709 580
1947 1,662 716 946
1948 1,766 746 1,020
1949 1,931 853 1,078
1950 2,128 929 1,199
1951 2,361 1,076 1,285
1952 2,522 1,144 1,378
1953 2,698 1,196 1,502
1954 3,090 1,352 1,738
1955 3,137 1,569 1,568
1956 3,709 2,074 1,635
1957 4,026 2,407 1,619
1958 3,919 2,388 1,531
1959 4,668 2,970 1,698
1960 4,758 3,090 1,668
1961 5,240 3,544 1,696
1962 5,758 3,962 1,796
1963 6,668 5,048 1,620 #88 girl name
1964 7,439 6,085 1,354 #70 girl name
1965 5,943 4,726 1,217 #77 girl name
1966 6,298 5,281 1,017 #68 girl name
1967 5,963 4,932 1,031 #71 girl name
1968 6,034 5,014 1,020 #70 girl name
1969 7,029 6,023 1,006 #60 girl name
1970 7,447 6,409 1,038 #54 girl name
1971 8,031 6,932 1,099 #44 girl name
1972 6,638 5,607 1,031 #52 girl name
1973 5,944 4,932 1,012 #59 girl name
1974 5,971 5,157 814 #55 girl name
1975 5,479 4,621 858 #62 girl name
1976 5,079 4,408 671 #64 girl name
1977 4,978 4,340 638 #62 girl name
1978 4,543 4,004 539 #70 girl name
1979 5,576 4,949 627 #54 girl name
1980 4,948 4,440 508 #68 girl name
1981 4,789 4,247 542 #71 girl name
1982 4,766 4,237 529 #67 girl name
1983 4,399 3,923 476 #73 girl name
1984 4,429 3,940 489 #73 girl name
1985 3,828 3,346 482 #82 girl name
1986 3,542 3,075 467 #92 girl name
1987 3,842 3,423 419 #83 girl name
1988 3,576 3,192 384 #90 girl name
1989 3,356 2,999 357
1990 3,281 2,935 346
1991 2,749 2,414 335
1992 2,426 2,155 271
1993 2,234 1,988 246
1994 2,003 1,806 197
1995 1,942 1,756 186
1996 1,961 1,800 161
1997 1,834 1,683 151
1998 1,541 1,424 117
1999 1,434 1,321 113
2000 1,129 1,016 113
2001 1,044 945 99
2002 976 893 83
2003 878 800 78
2004 769 704 65
2005 865 791 74
2006 873 809 64
2007 800 727 73
2008 743 680 63
2009 631 574 57
2010 698 654 44
2011 509 469 40
2012 495 455 40
2013 401 373 28
2014 390 353 37
2015 363 326 37
2016 352 321 31
2017 308 278 30
* Years where the name was given to 5 or fewer babies will show zero to respect privacy.
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Where is the name Dana popular?

International Interest for Dana

Interest is based how many people viewed this name from each country and is scaled based on the total views by each country so that large countries do not always show the most interest. Darker blue on the map indicates that people in the country are more likely to search for this name.

Longer bars in the bar graph indicate that people in the country are more interested in the name. Not all countries that have shown an interest in the name are listed in the bar graph.

United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
India
Jamaica
United Arab Emirates
Trinidad and Tobago
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia

Popularity in the US

View popular names by state or region.

Popularity of Dana as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Dana as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Maine, Oklahoma, or District of Columbia.

Popularity of Dana as a last name

The map shows the absolute popularity of the name Dana as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in New York, California, or Massachusetts.

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Common last names for Dana

  • Smith
  • Brown
  • Jones
  • Williams
  • Johnson
  • Miller
  • Davis
  • Anderson
  • Moore
  • Martin
  • Clark
  • Walker
  • Reed
  • Hall

Common first names for Dana

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Dana U.S.
â–ˆ  White 79.63% 64.26%
â–ˆ  African American 1.87% 11.96%
â–ˆ  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 8.02% 4.85%
â–ˆ  American Indian and Alaska Native 2.48% 0.69%
â–ˆ  Two or More Ethnicities 2.15% 1.76%
â–ˆ  Hispanic or Latino 5.85% 16.26%

Of Last Name Dana

People with the last name Dana are most frequently White

Entire United States

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Fun Facts about the name Dana

  • What name lists does Dana rank for?
    #24Unisex Names
    #1Boy Names Unique to New England
  • How Popular is the name Dana? Dana is the 307th most popular name of all time. As a last name Dana was the 6,008th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Dana have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 244,562 babies born with the first name Dana in the United States. That's more than enough people named Dana to occupy the territory of French Guiana (France) with an estimated population of 243,000 (as of July 1, 2012).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Dana? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1880 when it was given as a first name to 12 new born babies.
  • When was Dana first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Dana is Monday, December 28th, 1868.
  • What year had the most people named Dana born? The highest recorded use of the first name Dana was in 1971 with a total of 6,932 babies. That's a lot of babies named Dana!
  • Random Dana Factoid: According to the 1972 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Dana ranks 63rd in popularity as a baby girl's name in Oregon. Imagine that, 50 babies in Oregon have the same name as you in 1972.
  • Weird things about the name Dana: Your name in reverse order is Anad. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Adna. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Dana? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 5,723 people with the last name Dana.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Dana? If you manage to meet 100,000 people in your life, chances are that 2 of them will have Dana as their last name.
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What Danas Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Dana

Name poster for Dana(click to save the high quality version)

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Most Popular Names

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All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • Other Dictionary Sources: WordNet 3.1 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University (License).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.