Daneya
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "enlightened" or "wise".
Name Census estimates that about 77 living Americans carry the first name Daneya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Daneya today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daneya births was 2007 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daneya. 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 Daneya. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
77
~ 1 in 4,451,355 Americans
Peak year
2007
11 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2012 SSA rank
#15,428
Tracked since 1987
Census
Daneya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 133 people with the first name Daneya, which placed it at #48,223 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
#48,223
National first-name rank
People counted
133
133 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daneya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daneya is Black at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.3%) and White (13.5%). 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 Daneya 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 Daneya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.2% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino14.3% · 19
- White13.5% · 18
- Two or more races7.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 2
Popularity
Daneya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daneya from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 53 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daneya 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 Daneya 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 Daneya
The given name Daneya has its roots in the Persian language, originating from the word "dana" which means "wise" or "learned." It emerged during the Middle Ages, primarily used in regions that were influenced by Persian culture, such as parts of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daneya can be found in a 12th-century Persian manuscript, where it was used to refer to a renowned scholar and philosopher. This suggests that the name was associated with wisdom and intellectual pursuits from its inception.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Daneya al-Bukhari made significant contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence. Born in the city of Bukhara (present-day Uzbekistan) in 1185, she was widely respected for her vast knowledge of Sharia law and her influential writings on the subject.
During the Timurid Dynasty in the 14th and 15th centuries, the name Daneya gained further prominence. One of the most celebrated individuals bearing this name was Daneya Banu Begum, a highly educated and influential woman who served as a trusted advisor to the Timurid ruler, Shah Rukh.
In the realm of literature, the name Daneya is associated with the renowned Persian poet Daneya Ganjavi, who lived during the 12th century. Her eloquent and profound works, particularly her ghazals (a form of amatory poem), earned her widespread acclaim and a place among the literary greats of her time.
Another notable figure was Daneya al-Shirazi, a 16th-century Persian mathematician and astronomer. Born in Shiraz (present-day Iran) in 1501, she made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the development of astronomical instruments, earning her a reputation as one of the most brilliant minds of her era.
While the name Daneya may have originated in Persian culture, its usage has transcended geographical boundaries over the centuries, with individuals from various backgrounds adopting it. However, it remains deeply rooted in its Persian heritage, carrying connotations of wisdom, intellect, and scholarly pursuits.
People
Daneya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daneya 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
Daneya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daneya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 77 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daneya 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 4,451,355 US residents.
Is Daneya a common name?
We classify Daneya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.7% 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 Daneya most popular?
The single biggest year for Daneya was 2007, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daneya is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daneya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 133 people with the name Daneya, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,223 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 Daneya 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 Daneya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daneya leans strongly female. 129 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 6 male bearers (4.4%). 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 Daneya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daneya is Black at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.3%) and White (13.5%). 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 Daneya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Daneya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.2% (80 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 Daneya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daneya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Daneya 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 Daneya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daneya 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 Daneya 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 have the name Daneya?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.