Dafna
A feminine Hebrew name meaning "laurel" or "branch".
Name Census estimates that about 74 living Americans carry the first name Dafna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dafna today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dafna births was 2012 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dafna. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dafna. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
74
~ 1 in 4,631,815 Americans
Peak year
2012
9 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2012 SSA rank
#11,487
Tracked since 1965
Census
Dafna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 365 people with the first name Dafna, which placed it at #25,801 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,801
National first-name rank
People counted
365
365 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dafna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dafna is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dafna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dafna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 297
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 9
- Black or African American1.9% · 7
Popularity
Dafna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dafna from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 22 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dafna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dafna by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dafna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dafna
The name Dafna is of Hebrew origin, derived from the word "dafna," which means "laurel" or "bay tree" in the ancient Semitic language. This name has been in use since biblical times and is mentioned in the Old Testament as a symbol of victory and honor.
The earliest recorded use of the name Dafna dates back to the 7th century BCE, when it was mentioned in the Book of Lamentations, a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem. In this text, the name is used as a metaphor for the once-prosperous nation of Israel, which had fallen into ruin.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Dafna. One of the earliest was Dafna bat Yitzhak (born around 1150 CE), a renowned Jewish poet and scholar from Spain during the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Andalusia. Her works were widely celebrated for their lyrical beauty and philosophical depth.
Another notable figure was Dafna Armoni (1926-2022), an Israeli painter and sculptor whose works explored themes of nature, spirituality, and the human form. Her vibrant and expressive artworks earned her international recognition and numerous accolades throughout her long career.
In the realm of politics, Dafna Kadury (born 1947) was a prominent Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) for several terms, representing the Labor Party. She was known for her advocacy of women's rights and social justice causes.
One of the most influential Dafnas of modern times was Dafna Meir (1976-2016), an Israeli mother of six who was tragically killed in a terrorist attack in her home in the West Bank settlement of Otniel. Her courageous response to the attack and her commitment to peaceful coexistence inspired many and became a symbol of resilience and hope in the face of violence.
Finally, in the field of literature, Dafna Izenberg (born 1948) is an Israeli novelist and playwright whose works explore themes of identity, memory, and the complexities of human relationships. Her critically acclaimed novels, such as "Across the Lunchroom" and "The Translator's Bride," have earned her numerous awards and international recognition.
People
Dafna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dafna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dafna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dafna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 74 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dafna going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 4,631,815 US residents.
Is Dafna a common name?
We classify Dafna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dafna most popular?
The single biggest year for Dafna was 2012, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dafna is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dafna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 365 people with the name Dafna, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,801 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dafna in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dafna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dafna appears almost entirely female. Of the 368 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dafna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dafna is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dafna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dafna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (297 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dafna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dafna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dafna in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dafna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dafna in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dafna can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Dafna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.