Diana
Diana was given to 1,277 girls in 2025, #244 among girls’ names; 369,771 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 306,000 Americans named Diana and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 57 years old and half are between 34 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Diana by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Diana mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Diana is “a female given name from Latin.” Its etymology gives the sense “goddess” (*deiwā).
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. Originally an Old Italic divinity of light and the moon; later identified as the Roman counterpart to Greek goddess Artemis. Cognate of Attic Greek Διώνη (Diṓnē), similarly syncopated from older Ancient Greek Διϝωνη (Diwōnē), whence via Latin Diōne is derived English Dione used in various ways across astronomy, chemistry, biology, and as a given name. From the same root Proto-Indo-European *dyúh₃onh₂- also potentially cognate to English June via Latin Jūnō.
/daɪˈænə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Diana?
#244 among girls’ names, 2025
Diana rose from #296 in 2015 to #244 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.61 to 0.79 per 1,000.
9,459 babies in 1957, the peak
Diana peaked in 1957, when 9,459 babies were given it (9,433 girls, #43 among girls’ names). The 1,277 births of 2025 are 14% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,277 | #244 | 0.79 |
| 2024 | 1,301 | #242 | 0.80 |
| 2023 | 1,312 | #228 | 0.82 |
| 2022 | 1,316 | #229 | 0.80 |
| 2021 | 1,329 | #225 | 0.81 |
| 2020 | 1,236 | #245 | 0.76 |
| 2019 | 1,435 | #213 | 0.85 |
| 2018 | 1,608 | #185 | 0.95 |
| 2017 | 1,368 | #230 | 0.79 |
| 2016 | 1,183 | #269 | 0.67 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,091 | #296 | 0.61 |
| 2014 | 1,092 | #298 | 0.61 |
| 2013 | 1,179 | #272 | 0.67 |
| 2012 | 1,288 | #252 | 0.73 |
| 2011 | 1,545 | #204 | 0.88 |
| 2010 | 1,622 | #190 | 0.91 |
| 2009 | 1,943 | #166 | 1.1 |
| 2008 | 2,444 | #138 | 1.3 |
| 2007 | 3,182 | #106 | 1.7 |
| 2006 | 2,841 | #120 | 1.5 |
| 2005 | 3,159 | #100 | 1.7 |
| 2004 | 3,554 | #90 | 1.9 |
| 2003 | 3,149 | #108 | 1.7 |
| 2002 | 2,907 | #117 | 1.6 |
| 2001 | 3,198 | #102 | 1.8 |
| 2000 | 3,167 | #106 | 1.7 |
| 1999 | 3,328 | #101 | 1.9 |
| 1998 | 3,853 | #83 | 2.2 |
| 1997 | 3,586 | #97 | 2.1 |
| 1996 | 2,951 | #107 | 1.7 |
| 1995 | 3,167 | #105 | 1.8 |
| 1994 | 3,369 | #98 | 1.9 |
| 1993 | 3,389 | #94 | 1.9 |
| 1992 | 3,251 | #101 | 1.8 |
| 1991 | 3,342 | #103 | 1.8 |
| 1990 | 3,548 | #98 | 1.9 |
| 1989 | 3,687 | #86 | 2.0 |
| 1988 | 3,489 | #85 | 2.0 |
| 1987 | 3,354 | #85 | 1.9 |
| 1986 | 3,669 | #75 | 2.1 |
| 1985 | 3,686 | #74 | 2.1 |
| 1984 | 3,965 | #72 | 2.4 |
| 1983 | 4,039 | #69 | 2.4 |
| 1982 | 4,430 | #63 | 2.6 |
| 1981 | 3,971 | #75 | 2.4 |
| 1980 | 2,614 | #118 | 1.6 |
| 1979 | 2,781 | #111 | 1.7 |
| 1978 | 2,885 | #102 | 1.9 |
| 1977 | 2,846 | #100 | 1.9 |
| 1976 | 2,760 | #101 | 1.9 |
| 1975 | 2,912 | #100 | 2.0 |
| 1974 | 3,513 | #87 | 2.4 |
| 1973 | 3,519 | #85 | 2.4 |
| 1972 | 3,548 | #83 | 2.3 |
| 1971 | 4,211 | #82 | 2.5 |
| 1970 | 4,373 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1969 | 4,525 | #81 | 2.7 |
| 1968 | 4,995 | #71 | 3.0 |
| 1967 | 5,340 | #65 | 3.2 |
| 1966 | 5,504 | #64 | 3.3 |
| 1965 | 5,926 | #64 | 3.4 |
| 1964 | 7,070 | #63 | 3.7 |
| 1963 | 7,310 | #62 | 3.8 |
| 1962 | 7,842 | #57 | 4.0 |
| 1961 | 8,198 | #56 | 4.1 |
| 1960 | 8,327 | #53 | 4.1 |
| 1959 | 8,637 | #49 | 4.3 |
| 1958 | 9,169 | #45 | 4.6 |
| 1957 | 9,433 | #43 | 4.6 |
| 1956 | 7,851 | #56 | 3.9 |
| 1955 | 7,847 | #55 | 4.0 |
| 1954 | 7,624 | #57 | 3.9 |
| 1953 | 7,438 | #55 | 4.0 |
| 1952 | 7,392 | #51 | 4.0 |
| 1951 | 7,396 | #50 | 4.1 |
| 1950 | 7,447 | #47 | 4.3 |
| 1949 | 7,535 | #48 | 4.4 |
| 1948 | 7,706 | #48 | 4.5 |
| 1947 | 7,622 | #48 | 4.3 |
| 1946 | 7,544 | #42 | 4.8 |
| 1945 | 6,047 | #43 | 4.6 |
| 1944 | 4,311 | #60 | 3.2 |
| 1943 | 4,337 | #62 | 3.1 |
| 1942 | 3,857 | #68 | 2.9 |
| 1941 | 2,544 | #100 | 2.1 |
| 1940 | 2,195 | #117 | 1.9 |
| 1939 | 1,712 | #138 | 1.6 |
| 1938 | 1,466 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 1937 | 1,333 | #157 | 1.3 |
| 1936 | 834 | #202 | 0.80 |
| 1935 | 804 | #212 | 0.77 |
| 1934 | 860 | #205 | 0.82 |
| 1933 | 728 | #227 | 0.72 |
| 1932 | 661 | #236 | 0.62 |
| 1931 | 538 | #265 | 0.51 |
| 1930 | 564 | #263 | 0.50 |
| 1929 | 539 | #278 | 0.48 |
| 1928 | 407 | #330 | 0.35 |
| 1927 | 351 | #364 | 0.29 |
| 1926 | 320 | #381 | 0.27 |
| 1925 | 304 | #393 | 0.25 |
| 1924 | 277 | #418 | 0.22 |
| 1923 | 284 | #397 | 0.24 |
| 1922 | 267 | #403 | 0.22 |
| 1921 | 242 | #442 | 0.20 |
| 1920 | 232 | #443 | 0.19 |
| 1919 | 213 | #454 | 0.19 |
| 1918 | 209 | #462 | 0.18 |
| 1917 | 149 | #551 | 0.14 |
| 1916 | 159 | #519 | 0.15 |
| 1915 | 157 | #490 | 0.16 |
| 1914 | 152 | #444 | 0.20 |
| 1913 | 101 | #507 | 0.16 |
| 1912 | 86 | #521 | 0.15 |
| 1911 | 56 | #575 | 0.13 |
| 1910 | 55 | #553 | 0.14 |
| 1909 | 44 | #582 | 0.13 |
| 1908 | 55 | #489 | 0.16 |
| 1907 | 35 | #632 | 0.11 |
| 1906 | 38 | #570 | 0.13 |
| 1905 | 31 | #633 | 0.11 |
| 1904 | 36 | #560 | 0.13 |
| 1903 | 26 | #658 | 0.10 |
| 1902 | 36 | #538 | 0.14 |
| 1901 | 23 | #667 | 0.10 |
| 1900 | 29 | #660 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 31 | #538 | 0.13 |
| 1898 | 27 | #623 | 0.10 |
| 1897 | 18 | #745 | 0.08 |
| 1896 | 30 | #557 | 0.13 |
| 1895 | 23 | #644 | 0.10 |
| 1894 | 23 | #610 | 0.10 |
| 1893 | 24 | #578 | 0.11 |
| 1892 | 20 | #646 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 16 | #673 | 0.09 |
| 1890 | 13 | #764 | 0.07 |
| 1889 | 20 | #575 | 0.11 |
| 1888 | 6 | #1,172 | 0.03 |
| 1887 | 16 | #564 | 0.11 |
| 1886 | 13 | #642 | 0.09 |
| 1885 | 13 | #614 | 0.10 |
| 1884 | 15 | #546 | 0.12 |
| 1883 | 10 | #621 | 0.09 |
| 1882 | 8 | #692 | 0.07 |
| 1881 | 7 | #695 | 0.08 |
| 1880 | 10 | #555 | 0.11 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Diana a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Diana has been given almost only to girls: 1,284 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Diana: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Diana, and how old are they?
306,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 369,771 Americans ever recorded as Diana. The median Diana alive today is 57 years old; half are between 34 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 369,707 people named Diana (369,281 women and girls, 426 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 316,168 born in the U.S. The Census count is 17% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 14,600 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 116,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 57,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 56,100 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 44,400 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 16,600 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Diana born?
The states with the most babies named Diana are California, Texas and New York, with 38% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 64,426 | #143 | 1.8× |
| Texas | 38,619 | #190 | 1.5× |
| New York | 35,290 | #250 | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 21,746 | #269 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 18,548 | #260 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 14,688 | #313 | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 12,127 | #395 | 0.8× |
| Indiana | 11,861 | #522 | 1.2× |
| New Jersey | 10,878 | #329 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 10,143 | #241 | 0.9× |
Where Diana is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Diana is most over-represented in California: since 1910 it was given 1.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Diana with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,090,968 babies since 1880, Diana is the second most given (34% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,277 of their 1,648 babies (77%), the most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Diana
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Diana and names like it
- Compare Diana and DianeBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sDiana peaked in 1957.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Diana since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Diana: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1957The year the most babies were named Diana.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Diana alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.