Diana

What Diana means

Means “goddess”

Borrowed from Late Latin Diāna, short form of Latin Dīāna, derived by syncope from Old Latin Dīvāna, equivalent to dīvus +‎ -āna; roughly akin to Proto-Italic *deiwā (“goddess”) + Proto-Indo-European *-néh₂.

Source: Wiktionary, “Diana” (revision 93942296), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Diana?

US: Rising: up from #296 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #281 in 2015, #275 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1946, when 7,544 girls got the name (#42 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,259 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,535 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,556 baby girls 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 DE (2.22 per 1,000 girls), ND (1.85 per 1,000 girls), ME (1.61 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Diana is #244 in the US and #275 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Diana were girls.

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

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Dania229 US · 46 E&W
• Deanna85 US · 5 E&W
• Dianna68 US
• Daiana23 US · 6 E&W
• Tuana11 US · 6 E&W
• Deana13 US
• Diani10 US
• Dionna8 US

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 Diana

Girls

• Rosa#652“rose”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Marina#601possibly “of the sea”^*
• Amanda#493“to love”^*
• Monica#736Editor’s note Down from #559 in 2015 to #736 in 2025 in the US
• Lauren#401Same root as Laurence, possibly meaning “laurel”^*

For a brother

• Justin#233“just”^*
• Martin#335“of or like Mars”^*
• Victor#209“conqueror”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Carlos#150Spanish and Portuguese form of Charles, meaning “free man”^*
• Anthony#46“flower”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Diana’s. Rank is US 2025.