Danijela
A feminine name of Serbian origin meaning "God is my judge".
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Danijela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Danijela today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danijela births was 2003 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danijela. 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 Danijela. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
2003
11 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2008 SSA rank
#18,192
Tracked since 1977
Census
Danijela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 654 people with the first name Danijela, which placed it at #17,030 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
#17,030
National first-name rank
People counted
654
654 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Danijela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danijela is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Danijela 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 Danijela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.4% · 637
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 11
- Black or African American0.3% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
- Two or more races0.3% · 2
Popularity
Danijela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danijela from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 50 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Danijela 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 Danijela 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 Danijela
The name Danijela originates from the Hebrew name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" or "judged by God." Its roots can be traced back to ancient Hebrew texts and the biblical figure Daniel from the Old Testament.
The name Daniel gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe, where it was widely used among various Christian communities. The feminine form, Danijela, emerged as a Slavic variation, predominantly found in countries like Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Danijela can be found in medieval Croatian documents dating back to the 13th century. It is believed that the name was introduced to the region through cultural and religious influences from neighboring regions.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Danijela. One such figure was Danijela Pavlović (1515-1582), a Croatian noble and landowner who played a significant role in the defense of her territories against Ottoman invasions during the 16th century.
In the 19th century, Danijela Gabrić (1819-1892) was a prominent Croatian writer and poet, known for her contributions to the Illyrian Movement, which aimed to promote Croatian language and culture.
Another notable bearer of the name was Danijela Bunić (1898-1985), a Croatian painter and sculptor who gained recognition for her avant-garde works and her involvement in the Croatian modern art scene in the early 20th century.
In the realm of sports, Danijela Rundqvist (born 1964) is a former Swedish tennis player who achieved notable success in the 1980s, winning two Grand Slam doubles titles at the French Open and Wimbledon.
More recently, Danijela Ristić (born 1972) is a Serbian singer and songwriter who has gained widespread popularity in the Balkan region for her contributions to the folk and pop music genres.
While the name Danijela may have originated from Hebrew roots, it has become firmly established in various Slavic cultures, particularly in the Balkans, where it has a rich historical legacy and cultural significance.
People
Danijela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danijela 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
Danijela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danijela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danijela 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 5,618,924 US residents.
Is Danijela a common name?
We classify Danijela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danijela most popular?
The single biggest year for Danijela was 2003, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danijela is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Danijela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 654 people with the name Danijela, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,030 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 Danijela 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 Danijela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danijela appears almost entirely female. Of the 657 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 Danijela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danijela is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Danijela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Danijela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.4% (637 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 Danijela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Danijela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Danijela 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 Danijela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Danijela 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 Danijela 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 Americans are named Danijela?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.