girl's name
Danna
DAH-nah
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 25,910
the United States
#394
2025 births
Danna is a girl's name with two sources. In Spanish-speaking use it is a modern form of Daniela, from the Hebrew for God is my judge; in English it is a respelling of Dana, an older name whose own origin is disputed.
- Danna is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 2010, when 1,231 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,213 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1916.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Danna over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 10 |
| 1920s | 85 |
| 1930s | 204 |
| 1940s | 849 |
| 1950s | 1,386 |
| 1960s | 2,221 |
| 1970s | 1,671 |
| 1980s | 1,210 |
| 1990s | 981 |
| 2000s | 4,454 |
| 2010s | 6,954 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,215 |
What Danna means
Danna means God is my judge through Daniela. Through Dana it has no settled meaning — proposals include a Danish origin, a Hebrew one and an Irish goddess, and none is established.
Where Danna comes from
Danna has a clear line and a murky one. The clear one is Spanish: Danna functions as a short form of Daniela, feminine of Daniel, from the Hebrew din, judgment, and el, God. The murky one is Dana, used in English since the nineteenth century and variously derived from a Scandinavian ethnic term, from the Hebrew, and from Danu, a mother goddess of Irish mythology whose own name is barely attested. Reference works do not settle it. Our records show Danna from 1916 with a sharp rise in the 2000s driven by Spanish-speaking families, pointing to the Daniela line for most current bearers.
Danna in use
Danna charts in only three of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2010.
How popular is Danna?
In 2025, Danna was given to 787 babies in the United States, ranking #394 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Danna is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Danna
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Danna also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Danna over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Danna
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Danna in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Danna
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Danna — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Danna
What does the name Danna mean?
God is my judge, through Daniela. Through the English Dana it has no settled meaning.
Is Danna short for Daniela?
In Spanish-speaking use, usually yes. In English it is more often a respelling of Dana.
How do you pronounce Danna?
DAH-nah in Spanish; DAN-uh is common in English.
How popular is the name Danna?
In 2025, Danna was given to 787 babies in the United States, ranking #394 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Danna a girl's or a boy's name?
Danna is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Danna?
Danna has 2 syllables.
When was Danna most popular?
Danna peaked in 2010, when 1,231 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Danna?
Danna is usually shortened to Dan and Nana.
Is Danna a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Danna currently ranks #394 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.