Danica
A feminine name of Slavic origin meaning "morning star" or "Venus".
Name Census estimates that about 15,926 living Americans carry the first name Danica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Danica today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danica births was 2007 (1,109 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danica. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Danica with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,522 Americans
Peak year
2007
1,109 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,555
Tracked since 1916
Census
Danica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,396 people with the first name Danica, which placed it at #1,866 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
#1,866
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
15,396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Danica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danica is White at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.4%). 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 Danica 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 Danica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.9% · 9,685
- Hispanic or Latino14.3% · 2,197
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.4% · 1,287
- Two or more races6.8% · 1,042
- Black or African American6.5% · 999
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 186
Popularity
Danica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danica from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5,244 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
Danica 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 Danica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Danicas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Danica, while Delaware, Alaska, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 272 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Danica
The name Danica originates from the Slavic languages, specifically Croatian and Serbian. It derives from the word "danica," which means "morning star" or "Venus" in these languages. This name has been in use since ancient times in the Balkan region, where it was associated with the planet Venus and the dawn.
In Slavic mythology, Danica was the personification of the morning star, often depicted as a beautiful maiden who ushered in the first light of day. The name was likely inspired by the celestial body's brightness and its appearance just before sunrise.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Danica can be found in the Serbian epic poetry cycle, known as the "Kosovo Cycle." These poems, which date back to the 14th century, tell the stories of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 and the Serbian struggle against Ottoman rule. The name appears in various ballads and songs from this period, often personifying the morning star or used as a symbolic representation of hope and perseverance.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Danica. One of the earliest was Danica Pinterova, a Czech writer and poet who lived from 1875 to 1915. She was known for her lyrical works and contributions to Czech literature during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another notable figure was Danica Maksimović (1913-1994), a Serbian poet and academic. She was a prominent figure in modern Serbian poetry and served as a professor of literature at the University of Belgrade.
In the field of sports, Danica Patrick (born 1982) is a renowned American professional racing driver. She achieved numerous firsts for women in motorsports, including becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar Series race and the first to lead laps at the Indianapolis 500.
Danica Curcic (1939-2023) was a Serbian actress and artist, known for her roles in Yugoslav and Serbian films and television series. She was also an accomplished painter and sculptor.
Lastly, Danica Phelps (born 1991) is a British singer and songwriter. She has released several successful albums and singles, and her music has been featured in various films and television shows.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Danica, a name with deep roots in Slavic culture and mythology, representing the beauty and symbolism of the morning star.
People
Danica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danica 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
Danica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,926 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danica 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 21,522 US residents.
Is Danica a common name?
We classify Danica as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,391 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danica most popular?
The single biggest year for Danica was 2007, when 1,109 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danica 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 Danica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,396 people with the name Danica, or 5.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,866 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 Danica 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 Danica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danica appears almost entirely female. Of the 15,391 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Danica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danica is White at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.4%). 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 Danica most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Danica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.9% (9,685 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 Danica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Danica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Danica 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 Danica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Danica 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 Danica 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 common is the name Danica?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.