Dwana
A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "golden brown" or "dark-haired".
Name Census estimates that about 833 living Americans carry the first name Dwana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dwana today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dwana births was 1964 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dwana. 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
833
~ 1 in 411,470 Americans
Peak year
1964
82 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2002 SSA rank
#16,172
Tracked since 1943
Census
Dwana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 820 people with the first name Dwana, which placed it at #14,393 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
#14,393
National first-name rank
People counted
820
820 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dwana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dwana is Black at 50.4%. The next largest groups are White (41.3%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Dwana 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 Dwana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.4% · 413
- White41.3% · 339
- Two or more races3.4% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 6
Popularity
Dwana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dwana from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 330 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
Dwana 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 Dwana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dwanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Dwana, while California, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dwana
The name Dwana is thought to have originated from the Sanskrit language of ancient India. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "dwana," which means "sound" or "resonance." The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the Vedic period, around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, when it was likely used as a descriptor or title for skilled musicians or singers.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Upanishads and the Puranas, there are references to deities and sages with names similar to Dwana, suggesting the name's spiritual and philosophical significance. One such reference is found in the Rig Veda, where the word "dwana" is used to describe the resonance of sacred chants and mantras.
The first recorded individual with the name Dwana was a celebrated musician and composer who lived in the 7th century CE during the Gupta Empire in India. Known for his mastery of the ancient Indian veena, a plucked string instrument, he was highly regarded for his contributions to the development of Indian classical music.
Another notable figure in history with the name Dwana was a Sufi mystic and poet who lived in the 12th century CE in present-day Iran. His spiritual verses and teachings on the divine resonance of music and poetry have been widely studied and revered by Sufi practitioners over the centuries.
In the 16th century, there was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and linguist named Dwana who hailed from the city of Varanasi in northern India. His commentaries on ancient Sanskrit texts and his work in preserving the language's grammar and syntax were highly influential during the Renaissance period.
During the Mughal Empire in the 17th century, a prominent architect and engineer named Dwana was responsible for designing and constructing several iconic buildings and monuments, including the famous Red Fort in Delhi. His innovative architectural techniques and intricate designs have left a lasting legacy in Indian architecture.
In more recent times, a celebrated Indian classical dancer named Dwana, who lived in the early 20th century, was widely acclaimed for her mastery of the Bharatanatyam dance form. Her graceful performances and contributions to preserving the ancient dance tradition have inspired generations of dancers and artists.
People
Dwana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dwana 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
Dwana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dwana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 833 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dwana 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 411,470 US residents.
Is Dwana a common name?
We classify Dwana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 988 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dwana most popular?
The single biggest year for Dwana was 1964, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dwana is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dwana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 820 people with the name Dwana, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,393 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 Dwana 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 Dwana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dwana appears almost entirely female. Of the 818 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Dwana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dwana is Black at 50.4%. The next largest groups are White (41.3%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Dwana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dwana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.4% (413 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 Dwana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dwana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dwana 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 Dwana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dwana 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 Dwana 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 Dwana?
Want to know how many Americans are named Dwana? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.