Dana

Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Dawnay, or else an altered form of Dan or Daniel.^[1]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːnə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdeɪ.nə/, /ˈdænə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːnə

Dana

1. An American surname.
2. (chiefly US) A unisex given name transferred from the surname, originally given in honor of Richard Henry Dana Jr.
   • 1971, J. Anthony Lukas, Don't Shoot — We Are Your Children, Random House, →ISBN, page 419:

     Johnie had become a "problem" for the advisers and "baby deans" in University Hall: men with marvelously Puritan names like Dana Cotton and Christopher Wadsworth called him in and asked what the trouble was.

   • 2000, California Blue Book‎^[1], page 168:

     Currently serving his sixth term in Congress, Dana Rohrabacher represents California's scenic 45th Congressional District.

   • 2024 November 16, Aaron Timms, “How UFC head Dana White became the glue between Maga and the manosphere”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     When Dana White barreled up to the microphone, at Donald Trump’s request, to say his piece on election night, it represented confirmation of the UFC CEO’s status as one of the key members of the president-elect’s inner circle.

3. A town in Indiana; named for Charles Dana, a railroad official.
4. A village in Illinois; named for Thomas Dana, a railroad official.
5. A city in Iowa; named for Samuel Dana, an early settler.

Transliterations from various languages.

Dana

1. A female given name, from Persian دانا (dânâ, “wise”).
2. A female given name, from Gulf Arabic دانة (dāna, “pearl”).
3. A village in central-west Jordan, from South Levantine Arabic ضانا.
4. A village in Amhara, Ethiopia, from Amharic ዳና (dana).
5. A town in central-west Nepal, from Nepali दाना (dānā)

Borrowed from Polish Dana.

Dana

2. A village in the Gmina of Puck, Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland.

• ANDA, Anda, NDAA, aDNA, nada

• IPA^(key): [ˈdana]
• Rhymes: -ana
• Hyphenation: Da‧na

Feminine form of the biblical name Dan. Also a short form of Daniela and Bohdana.

Dana f

1. a female given name

Dana

1. genitive/accusative singular of Dan

First recorded as a given name of Latvians in 1969. From Daniela.

Dana f

1. a female given name

• Klāvs Siliņš: Latviešu personvārdu vārdnīca. Riga "Zinātne" 1990, →ISBN
• [3] Population Register of Latvia: Dana was the only given name of 2197 persons in Latvia on May 21st 2010.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdana/

Dana

1. genitive singular of Dan
2. accusative singular of Dan
3. nominative dual of Dan

From Old Norse Dana, from *dana (“female Dane”), thus a feminine form of Danr, from danr (“Dane”).

• IPA^(key): /²daːna/

Dana f (definite Dana)

1. a female given name from Old Norse, meaning “Dane”, masculine equivalent Dan

• dan, dane (“Dane”)

• Eivind Vågslid (1988) “Dana”, in Norderlendske fyrenamn (in Norwegian Nynorsk), →ISBN

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈda.na/
• Rhymes: -ana
• Syllabification: Da‧na

Dana f

1. Dana (a village in the Gmina of Puck, Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈdana/

Dana f (genitive singular Dany, nominative plural Dany, declension pattern of žena)

1. a female given name

• Danka
• Danuľa, Danuľka
• Danuša, Danuška

• “Dana”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025