girl's name
Diane
dee-AN
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 548,976
France
#69
2025 births
Diane is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly," the French form of the Roman goddess Diana. It ranks sixty-ninth in France but has fallen enormously in America, where it peaked in 1955 at more than twenty-three thousand births in a single year.
- Diane is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 1955, when 23,343 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 50,234 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1898.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Diane over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 13 |
| 1900s | 108 |
| 1910s | 728 |
| 1920s | 2,310 |
| 1930s | 22,268 |
| 1940s | 123,200 |
| 1950s | 211,057 |
| 1960s | 114,777 |
| 1970s | 25,444 |
| 1980s | 11,270 |
| 1990s | 4,938 |
| 2000s | 2,403 |
| 2010s | 1,043 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 475 |
What Diane means
Diane means divine, or heavenly. It descends from the Latin divus, godlike, by way of the goddess's name, and so describes a quality of the divine rather than naming an attribute of the bearer.
Where Diane comes from
Diane is the French form of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon and childbirth, identified with the Greek Artemis. Her name is generally traced to an Indo-European root meaning heavenly or shining, the same one behind the Latin dies, day, and the god Jupiter. Her temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders. In France the name is dominated by Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II and one of the most powerful women of the sixteenth century, whose emblem of the crescent moon appears throughout Chenonceau. The English Diana was carried into the twentieth century by very different associations.
Diane in use
Diane ranks sixty-ninth in France with about 680 births in 2025, holding steady in a market where it never collapsed. Our American records tell a dramatic story: a peak in 1955 at more than twenty-three thousand births in that year alone, and a near-total disappearance since. With more than 548,000 births on record it is among the largest names in our data, and one where the French figure now comfortably exceeds the American.
How popular is Diane?
In 2025, Diane was given to 66 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Diane 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 Diane
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Diane also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Diane over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Diane
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.
Diane 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 Diane
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Diane — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Diane
What does the name Diane mean?
Diane means "divine" or "heavenly," from the Latin root behind the goddess Diana.
Is Diane the French form of Diana?
Yes. Diana is the Latin goddess; Diane is the French development of her name.
Who was Diane de Poitiers?
The mistress of Henri II and one of the most powerful women of sixteenth-century France.
Is Diane still popular?
It ranks 69th in France but has fallen almost entirely in the United States since its 1955 peak.
Is Diane a girl's or a boy's name?
Diane is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Diane?
Diane has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Diane?
Diane is usually shortened to Di.
Is Diane a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Diane currently ranks #69 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.