Dany
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "wealthy" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 1,435 living Americans carry the first name Dany. It is a predominantly male name (92.6% of registrations). The average person named Dany today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dany births was 2008 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dany. 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 Dany with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 238,853 Americans
Peak year
2008
46 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,330
Tracked since 1946
Census
Dany in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,159 people with the first name Dany, which placed it at #4,473 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
#4,473
National first-name rank
People counted
4.2K
4,159 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dany
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dany is Hispanic at 57.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). 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 Dany 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 Dany at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.5% · 2,391
- White23.7% · 985
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.6% · 484
- Black or African American5.9% · 246
- Two or more races1.0% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Dany
Dany leans heavily male at 92.6% of total registrations, but 111 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dany as a male name
- Ranked #4,330 in 2024
- 24 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (46 births)
Dany as a female name
- Ranked #12,202 in 1996
- 6 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1987 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dany on both sides of the split. Of the 4,158 people counted with this name, 3,295 were male (79.2%) and 863 were female (20.8%).
Popularity
Dany: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dany from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 327 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dany remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dany 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 Dany during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Danys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Dany, while New Jersey, Michigan, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dany
The name Dany has its roots in the ancient Hebrew language, originating from the biblical name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" or "God has judged." This name dates back to the 6th century BCE and is found in the Old Testament of the Bible, particularly in the Book of Daniel.
The name Dany is a diminutive or shortened form of the name Daniel, which was popular among Jews and later adopted by Christians. It gained widespread use across Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dany can be found in the 13th-century French epic poem "Le Roman de la Rose," where a character named Dany is mentioned. This suggests that the name was in use in France during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Dany. One such person was Dany Chamoun (1907-1990), a Lebanese politician who served as the President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958.
Another famous Dany was Dany Laferrière (born in 1953), a Haitian-Canadian novelist and writer who won the prestigious Prix Médicis in 2009 for his novel "L'Enigme du retour."
In the world of sports, Dany Torres (born in 1973) is a former professional baseball player from Puerto Rico who played for several Major League Baseball teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Dany Heatley (born in 1981) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for teams like the Atlanta Thrashers and the Ottawa Senators.
Dany Boon (born in 1966) is a French comedian, actor, and filmmaker who has starred in numerous successful French films, including "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" and "Rien à déclarer."
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Dany, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and disciplines.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Dany
People
Dany + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dany 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
Dany: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dany?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,435 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dany 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 238,853 US residents.
Is Dany a common name?
We classify Dany as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,505 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dany most popular?
The single biggest year for Dany was 2008, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dany 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 Dany in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,159 people with the name Dany, or 1.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,473 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 Dany 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 Dany?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dany on both sides of the split. Of the 4,158 people counted with this name, 3,295 were male (79.2%) and 863 were female (20.8%). 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 Dany?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dany is Hispanic at 57.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). 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 Dany most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dany in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.5% (2,391 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 Dany in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dany a male name?
Yes, 92.6% of people registered as Dany in the SSA data are male. 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 Dany still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dany 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 Dany 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 are called Dany?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.