Digna
Feminine name of Latin origin signifying "worthy, honorable, dignified".
Name Census estimates that about 456 living Americans carry the first name Digna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Digna today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Digna births was 1996 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Digna. 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
1996
24 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,055
Tracked since 1950
Popularity
Digna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Digna from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 126 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Digna 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 Digna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dignas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Digna
The name Digna has its origins in the Latin language and culture, dating back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the Latin word "dignus," which means "worthy," "deserving," or "appropriate." This root word is also the source of the English words "dignity" and "dignify."
In ancient Rome, the name Digna was likely given to girls as a reflection of their perceived worthiness or to signify the parents' hope that their daughter would grow up to be a person of high moral character and dignity. The name's early usage can be traced back to inscriptions and records from the Roman era, although specific examples are scarce.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Digna was a Roman Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. According to tradition, she was a young woman from Rome who was martyred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Valerian. Her feast day is celebrated on January 25th in the Catholic Church.
Another notable Digna in history was Digna de Christo, a Spanish mystic and Franciscan nun who lived in the 16th century (1510-1590). She was known for her visions and spiritual writings, which were highly regarded within the Catholic Church during her lifetime.
In the 17th century, Digna Vela y Acuña (1625-1703) was a Spanish nun and writer who was renowned for her poetry and spiritual works. She was a member of the Order of the Immaculate Conception and served as the abbess of several convents in Spain.
Moving into the 19th century, Digna Ochoa (1832-1901) was a Mexican educator and feminist who fought for women's rights and access to education. She founded several schools for girls in Mexico and was a pioneering figure in the country's early feminist movement.
In more recent times, Digna Luz Ibáñez Gómez (1924-2018) was a Paraguayan politician and diplomat who served as the first female ambassador of Paraguay to various countries, including the United States and Mexico. She was a prominent figure in Paraguay's political landscape and played a significant role in advancing women's rights and representation in her home country.
While the name Digna has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries, it has never been among the most popular names in any region. Nevertheless, it continues to be used as a given name, carrying with it the connotations of worthiness, dignity, and moral uprightness that it has embodied since its ancient Roman origins.
People
Digna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Digna 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
Digna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Digna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 456 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Digna 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 Digna a common name?
We classify Digna 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, 496 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Digna most popular?
The single biggest year for Digna was 1996, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Digna is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Digna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Digna 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.