Deana
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly".
Name Census estimates that about 19,773 living Americans carry the first name Deana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deana today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deana births was 1970 (1,363 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deana. 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
20K
~ 1 in 17,334 Americans
Peak year
1970
1,363 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1975 SSA rank
#4,040
Tracked since 1905
Gender
Gender distribution for Deana
Out of the 23,463 babies given the name Deana since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Deana as a male name
- Ranked #4,040 in 1975
- 8 male births in 1975
- Peak: 1975 (8 births)
Deana as a female name
- Ranked #8,042 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (1,363 births)
Popularity
Deana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deana from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 7,088 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deana 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 Deana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Deana, while Wyoming, North Dakota, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 415 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deana
The name Deana is derived from the Greek name Diana, which was the name of the ancient Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature. Diana was one of the most widely venerated deities in ancient Roman religion and her name comes from the Indo-European root "dey-" meaning "to shine".
The name Deana first appeared as a diminutive or pet form of Diana, likely emerging during the late Roman period or early Middle Ages. It was used as a given name throughout parts of Europe, particularly in Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, where the worship of Diana had been widespread during Roman times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Deana can be found in a 12th-century Spanish manuscript, where it is mentioned as the name of a noble woman. During the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity in Italy, with notable figures such as Deana de' Medici (1454-1515), a member of the influential Medici family of Florence.
In the 16th century, the name Deana was also adopted by English speakers, likely due to the influence of Renaissance humanism and the revival of interest in classical Greek and Roman culture. One of the earliest recorded English bearers of the name was Deana Fountain (c. 1580-1640), an English poet and writer.
Over the centuries, the name Deana has been borne by various notable individuals, including Deana Lawson (b. 1979), an American photographer known for her portraits of Black life; Deana Carter (b. 1966), an American country music singer-songwriter; and Deana Uppal (b. 1993), an Indian fashion model and actress.
Other notable bearers of the name Deana throughout history include Deana Kleyn (1909-1999), a Dutch resistance fighter during World War II; Deana Martin (1948-2016), an American singer and actress, and daughter of the famous entertainer Dean Martin; and Deana Dorfer (b. 1965), an Austrian former professional tennis player.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Deana
People
Deana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deana 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
Deana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19,773 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deana 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 17,334 US residents.
Is Deana a common name?
We classify Deana as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23,463 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deana most popular?
The single biggest year for Deana was 1970, when 1,363 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deana is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Deana a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Deana 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.