Dann
Of Danish origin, meaning courageous or brave.
Name Census estimates that about 1,725 living Americans carry the first name Dann. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 51.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Dann today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dann births was 1957 (116 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dann. 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
- • Dann sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 198,698 Americans
Peak year
1957
116 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2003 SSA rank
#11,252
Tracked since 1927
Gender
Gender distribution for Dann
Dann is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,234 total registrations, 1,089 (48.7%) were male and 1,145 (51.3%) were female.
Dann as a male name
- Ranked #11,252 in 2003
- 5 male births in 2003
- Peak: 1957 (71 births)
Dann as a female name
- Ranked #13,579 in 2000
- 6 female births in 2000
- Peak: 1962 (52 births)
Popularity
Dann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dann from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 749 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dann 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 Dann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Danns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Dann, while Oklahoma, Iowa, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dann
The name Dann has its roots in the Germanic languages, with its earliest known origins dating back to the early medieval period. The name is believed to be a shortened form of the Old German name Danihil, which itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic words "dan" and "hil," meaning "bold" and "battle," respectively.
In its earliest recorded instances, the name Dann appeared in various forms, such as Danne, Danni, and Danno, in ancient Germanic texts and historical records from the 5th to the 10th centuries. These early mentions were often associated with warriors, knights, and other notable figures of the time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dann was a Frankish nobleman named Dann of Austrasia, who lived in the 6th century and was a trusted advisor to King Clovis I. Another notable figure was Dann the Fearless, a Danish Viking chieftain who led raids across the North Sea in the late 9th century.
During the Middle Ages, the name Dann gained popularity in various European regions, particularly in Germany, Scandinavia, and the Low Countries. Several historical figures from this period bore the name, including Dann of Saxony (1075-1140), a renowned German nobleman and military commander during the Crusades.
In the Renaissance era, the name Dann was found among scholars, artists, and intellectuals. One notable example is Dann Gheyn (1536-1591), a Flemish Renaissance painter known for his religious works and portraits.
As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way into literature and folklore. In the epic poem "Beowulf," one of the characters is named Dann, described as a brave warrior and loyal companion to the hero Beowulf.
Other notable individuals with the name Dann throughout history include Dann Bunker (1718-1799), an American revolutionary soldier and patriot; Dann Dürrenmatt (1921-1990), a Swiss author and playwright; and Dann Goldfine (1926-2003), an American jazz drummer and composer.
While the name Dann has undergone various spelling variations and interpretations over the centuries, its origins can be traced back to the ancient Germanic cultures, where it was associated with qualities of boldness, bravery, and strength in battle.
People
Dann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dann 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
Dann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,725 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dann 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 198,698 US residents.
Is Dann a common name?
We classify Dann as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,234 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dann most popular?
The single biggest year for Dann was 1957, when 116 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dann is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dann a female name?
Yes, 51.3% of people registered as Dann 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.
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.