Dana is a unisex given name. It was among the 100 most popular names given to girls born in the United States between 1960 and 1990. It has since fallen in popularity and was ranked the 446th most popular name given to girls born in the United States in 2007. As a male forename it was of the 314th rank out of 1,219 in the 1990 U.S. census.

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Derivations

The name has multiple derivations. Dana or Danah, in Arabic, means 'the most perfectly sized, valuable and beautiful pearl'. This name is used by Arab states of the Persian Gulf (Eastern Arabia), due to their traditional pearl diving professions wherein they gave different type of pearls names. In Persian, the word dānā literally means 'wise', and some speculate that the name is first used as a first name in Shahnameh. In Persian, it is both a masculine and a feminine given name.

It is also occasionally regarded as a feminine version of Daniel or a short version of feminine names such as Bogdana or Yordana. In Hebrew, the name Dana is the feminine form of Dan, and means 'arbiter'. In Romanian and Czech, it is a feminine name, derived from the name Daniela; the masculine form being Dan/Daniel. In Polish, it is a feminine name, derived from the name Danuta.

People with the name

Namesakes

Dana Brown, several people

Dana Evans, several people

Dana Kirk, several people

Dana Lewis, several people

Dana Stevens, several people

Dana Taylor, several people

Dana Wilson (disambiguation)

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Dana is a unisex given name. It was among the 100 most popular names given to girls born in the United States between 1960 and 1990. It has since fallen in popularity and was ranked the 446th most popular name given to girls born in the United States in 2007. As a male forename it was of the 314th rank out of 1,219 in the 1990 U.S. census.