Dayani
A feminine name of Indian origin meaning "gift of light".
Name Census estimates that about 708 living Americans carry the first name Dayani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dayani today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dayani births was 2008 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dayani. 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.
People living today
708
~ 1 in 484,116 Americans
Peak year
2008
70 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,698
Tracked since 1998
Census
Dayani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 694 people with the first name Dayani, which placed it at #16,301 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
#16,301
National first-name rank
People counted
694
694 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dayani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dayani is Hispanic at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and White (3.7%). 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 Dayani 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 Dayani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino82.7% · 574
- Black or African American8.4% · 58
- White3.7% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 8
- Two or more races1.2% · 8
Popularity
Dayani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dayani from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 324 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dayani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dayani 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 Dayani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dayanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Dayani, while New Jersey, Georgia, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dayani
The name Dayani is believed to have its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the root for many modern Indian languages. The name is thought to derive from the Sanskrit word "daya," which means compassion or mercy. It is also closely related to the word "dayana," meaning generous or charitable.
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, the concept of daya, or compassion, was highly revered as a virtue essential for spiritual growth and enlightenment. The name Dayani may have been bestowed upon individuals who embodied these qualities or were considered compassionate and kind-hearted.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dayani can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Dayani was the name of a minor character, a princess known for her benevolence and charitable deeds.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Dayani. One such figure was Dayani Bhagat (1474-1543), a renowned Sikh warrior and devotee of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism. Dayani Bhagat was praised for her courage, loyalty, and unwavering commitment to her faith.
Another historical figure was Dayani Devi (1499-1567), a Hindu princess and philanthropist from the Rajput kingdom of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan, India. She was renowned for her charitable works and her support for the arts and culture.
In the 16th century, Dayani Bai (1528-1598) was a celebrated courtesan and poet in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Her poetry, which often celebrated love and spirituality, was highly regarded during her lifetime and continues to be studied and appreciated today.
The name Dayani also found its way into Persian literature, with Dayani Ganjavi (1049-1141), a renowned Persian poet and philosopher from the city of Ganja, now in modern-day Azerbaijan. His works explored themes of love, mysticism, and the human condition, and he is considered one of the greatest poets of the Persian literary tradition.
Lastly, Dayani Sivakami (1890-1978) was a prominent Indian social reformer and activist from Tamil Nadu. She dedicated her life to the empowerment of women and the upliftment of the underprivileged, establishing numerous schools and organizations to further her cause.
People
Dayani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dayani 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
Dayani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dayani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 708 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dayani 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 484,116 US residents.
Is Dayani a common name?
We classify Dayani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 715 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dayani most popular?
The single biggest year for Dayani was 2008, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dayani is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dayani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 694 people with the name Dayani, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,301 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 Dayani 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 Dayani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dayani leans strongly female. 691 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 12 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Dayani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dayani is Hispanic at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and White (3.7%). 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 Dayani most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dayani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (574 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 Dayani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dayani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dayani 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 Dayani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dayani 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 Dayani 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 share the name Dayani?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.