Dewana
Feminine name of Hindi origin meaning "mad" or "crazy".
Name Census estimates that about 456 living Americans carry the first name Dewana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dewana today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dewana births was 1966 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dewana. 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
456
~ 1 in 751,654 Americans
Peak year
1966
24 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1991 SSA rank
#9,572
Tracked since 1936
Popularity
Dewana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dewana from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 175 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dewana 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 Dewana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dewanas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dewana
The name Dewana has its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "deva," meaning "divine" or "celestial," and "naa," meaning "belonging to." Thus, the name Dewana could be interpreted as "belonging to the divine" or "of celestial nature."
In Hindu mythology, the name Dewana is sometimes associated with the concept of divine love or devotion, particularly in the context of the Bhakti movement that emerged during the medieval period. The Bhakti movement emphasized a personal and emotional connection with the divine, and the name Dewana may have been used to symbolize this spiritual longing or devotion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dewana can be found in the ancient Hindu scripture, the Mahabharata. In this epic, there is a character named Dewana, who is described as a devoted follower of the god Krishna. However, the exact details of this character and their significance in the narrative are unclear.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Dewana. In the 12th century, there was a renowned Sufi mystic and poet named Dewana Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, who was known for his spiritual teachings and contributions to the Chishti order of Sufism.
Another prominent figure with the name Dewana was Dewana Brajbasi, a 16th-century Hindu mystic and poet from the Braj region of northern India. He was a devoted follower of the god Krishna and composed several devotional poems and songs that are still celebrated today.
In the 18th century, there was a powerful ruler of the Maratha Empire named Dewana Shahu, who reigned from 1708 to 1749. He was known for his military prowess and for consolidating the Maratha dominance in various regions of the Indian subcontinent.
More recently, in the 20th century, there was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer named Dewana Narayanan, who was born in 1928 and passed away in 2018. She was instrumental in preserving and promoting the Bharatanatyam dance form and is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the field of Indian classical dance.
Another notable individual with the name Dewana was Dewana Harir, an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer from the early 20th century. She was actively involved in the Indian independence movement and worked towards uplifting the status of women in society.
People
Dewana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dewana 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
Dewana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dewana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 456 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dewana 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 751,654 US residents.
Is Dewana a common name?
We classify Dewana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 551 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dewana most popular?
The single biggest year for Dewana was 1966, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dewana is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dewana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dewana 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.