Danny

What Danny means

Means “diminutive of Daniel and Danielle”

From Dan (“diminutive of Daniel and Danielle”) +‎ -y, from Hebrew דן.

Source: Wiktionary, “Danny” (revision 93422577), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Danny?

US: Falling: down from #429 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #234 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1948, when 8,009 boys got the name (#39 that year). First in the US records in 1900.

How common

• About 1 in 3,838 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,276 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,964 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NM (1.38 per 1,000 boys), CA (0.44 per 1,000 boys), AZ (0.43 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Danny is #628 in the US and #469 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.3% of US babies named Danny were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Denny24 US · 51 E&W
• Donny28 US · 17 E&W
• Dany36 US
• Dani25 US · 7 E&W
• Dana25 US
• Tanay10 US
• Tonny6 US
• Denni0 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Danny

Boys

• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*
• David#35“beloved”^*
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*
• Joshua#66“to save”^*
• Jonathan#89“God has given”^*
• Eric#273Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 23,571 babies; 1,256 in 2025

For a sister

• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Amy#257“beloved”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Danny’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.