Mostly girls · peaked in 1971
Dana name popularity since 1925
244,291 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dana (78.8% girls, 21.2% boys). Half of them were born in 1971 or earlier, so the typical Dana is about 55 years old in 2026. Dana peaked in 1971 as the #44 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 244,291
- Named Dana, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,027 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 78.8% girls
- 192,560 girls · 51,731 boys
- Most popular in
- Maine
- 2.36× its national share
Peak year is the year Dana made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Dana births per year, 1925–2025
1971 was the biggest year for Dana both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1939 and 1944, Dana became 2.5× more common, from 1 in 6,490 baby girls to 1 in 2,640.
- Steepest fall: Between 2010 and 2015, its share of baby girls fell by 50%, from 1 in 2,720 to 1 in 5,480.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Dana's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dana.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dana in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 398 | 622 | – |
| 1930s | 1,232 | 1,292 | #566 |
| 1940s | 5,429 | 4,859 | #268 |
| 1950s | 17,106 | 15,160 | #202 |
| 1960s | 47,701 | 13,427 | #78 |
| 1970s | 51,358 | 8,325 | #62 |
| 1980s | 36,826 | 4,655 | #82 |
| 1990s | 19,284 | 2,123 | #170 |
| 2000s | 7,942 | 770 | #397 |
| 2010s | 3,828 | 355 | #857 |
| 2020–25 | 1,456 | 143 | #1,027 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
39.3% of babies named Dana from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Dana is most popular
The index compares Dana's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Dana.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Maine | 2.36× | 2,428 |
| District of Columbia | 1.45× | 1,605 |
| New Hampshire | 1.39× | 1,055 |
| New Jersey | 1.38× | 9,120 |
| Kansas | 1.33× | 3,261 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Dana and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Dana (this page) | 192,560 | 1971 |
| Danna | 25,062 | 2010 |
| Danah | 1,050 | 1980 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dana's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dana.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dana (1971).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data