Head to head · Girls' names
Danna vs Dorothy
#394 vs #421 in 2025
Danna is ahead (#394 vs #421 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Danna is climbing the charts fast, Dorothy is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Dorothy has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Dorothy leads 4 measures of 6; Danna leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Danna —, Dorothy #127 — Dorothy higher
- 1890s: Danna —, Dorothy #60 — Dorothy higher
- 1900s: Danna —, Dorothy #12 — Dorothy higher
- 1910s: Danna #4616, Dorothy #3 — Dorothy higher
- 1920s: Danna #3550, Dorothy #2 — Dorothy higher
- 1930s: Danna #1824, Dorothy #6 — Dorothy higher
- 1940s: Danna #933, Dorothy #21 — Dorothy higher
- 1950s: Danna #835, Dorothy #62 — Dorothy higher
- 1960s: Danna #676, Dorothy #129 — Dorothy higher
- 1970s: Danna #874, Dorothy #233 — Dorothy higher
- 1980s: Danna #1186, Dorothy #341 — Dorothy higher
- 1990s: Danna #1608, Dorothy #577 — Dorothy higher
- 2000s: Danna #758, Dorothy #923 — Danna higher
- 2010s: Danna #474, Dorothy #750 — Danna higher
- 2020s: Danna #367, Dorothy #470 — Danna higher
Dorothy stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Danna has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Danna | Dorothy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #127 |
| 1890s | — | #60 |
| 1900s | — | #12 |
| 1910s | #4616 | #3 |
| 1920s | #3550 | #2 |
| 1930s | #1824 | #6 |
| 1940s | #933 | #21 |
| 1950s | #835 | #62 |
| 1960s | #676 | #129 |
| 1970s | #874 | #233 |
| 1980s | #1186 | #341 |
| 1990s | #1608 | #577 |
| 2000s | #758 | #923 |
| 2010s | #474 | #750 |
| 2020s | #367 | #470 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Danna
No single settled meaning — read either as 'a Dane' or as 'judge', depending on which Dana you follow
Danna is generally treated as a spelling of Dana with the n doubled, and Dana itself has two serious readings. One is the English surname route, from an old word meaning a Dane, a person from Denmark. The other is Hebrew, where Dana works as a feminine counterpart to Dan, from a root meaning to judge — the same root behind Daniel and Daniela. Neither reading has pushed the other out.
Dana → Danna
How it traveled
Dana arrived as a given name out of a surname, and in English it traveled to both boys and girls for much of the twentieth century. Alongside it ran the Hebrew Dana, tied to Dan and to the whole Daniel family, which is why the name has never had one tidy meaning.
Dorothy
gift of God
From the Greek doron, a gift, and theos, God. The meaning has never been disputed and has never shifted.
Dorothea → Dorothy
How it traveled
The legend attached to Saint Dorothy is short and very hard to forget. On her way to execution in the depths of winter, a lawyer named Theophilus mocked her and asked her to send him fruit and flowers from the garden of paradise she was so sure of.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Danna
DAN-uh
The doubled n keeps the first vowel short, as in Anna. Spanish-speaking families often say DAH-nah, with a rounder first vowel; both are standard for this spelling. The one to head off is DAY-nuh, which belongs to Dana.
- Dani — The everyday short form, shared with Daniela and Danielle; also given on its own as a full name.
- Dana — Used informally by family, and a standalone given name in its own right in English, Hebrew and much of central Europe.
- Nana — A household nickname drawn from the middle of the name, mostly used by younger siblings and grandparents.
- Dan — Occasional and informal; more often heard as a man's name, so it rarely travels outside the family.
Dorothy
DOR-uh-thee
Three syllables with the weight at the front. German and Polish give the fuller form four, and put the weight on the third.
- Dot — The oldest English short form, cut from the front; still the commonest among women of an earlier generation.
- Dottie — The affectionate version of the same cut, used at home and often on later paperwork.
- Dolly — An older short form arrived at by a change of consonant, in the same way that Peggy came from Meggy.
- Thea — Cut from the back; a standing name of its own across Europe.
- Also Dora.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Danna if you want…
- a name most people already know#394 in 2025, 787 babies that year
- a name with fewer syllablesDanna is 2 syllables to Dorothy's 3
- a newer arrivalDanna entered the US charts in 1916
- a name that feels very nowDanna is climbing the charts fast
Choose Dorothy if you want…
- a name fewer children share#421 in 2025 — dorothy will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 114 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itDorothy runs 3 syllables, Danna 2
- a long American recordDorothy was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Danna
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight in both English and Spanish, with no silent letters and nothing to spell out beyond the double n.
- The doubled n does a job: it signals the short-a pronunciation and separates the name from Dana.
- Comes with Dani already established, a short form thousands of Danielas and Danielles have used for generations.
To consider
- Dana is the far more familiar spelling, so expect the extra n to be dropped on forms and rosters, and expect DAY-nuh from people reading it cold. A one-line correction, but a lifelong one.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled between the Danish surname reading and the Hebrew one. If you want a single clean answer to give relatives, this name will not hand you one.
- Dani is shared with every Daniela, Daniella and Danielle in the room, which is a lot of them — the full name stays distinctive, the nickname does not.
Dorothy
Strengths
- It has a form in every European language and is recognized across all of them.
- The meaning is short, warm and completely settled, which is rare.
- It carries an unusually large set of short forms, from the very plain Dot to the elegant Thea.
To consider
- One film has attached itself permanently, and a child will hear about the shoes.
- It is strongly generation-marked in America despite its recent return.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a girl's name.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Danna
50%chance Danna feels dated by 2040
Danna is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Dorothy
12%chance Dorothy feels dated by 2040
Dorothy has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Danna and Dorothy in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Danna and Dorothy?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names ending in -na
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- all guides
Where Danna and Dorothy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Danna or Dorothy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Danna or Dorothy?
- Danna, in 2025: Danna ranked #394 with 787 babies; Dorothy ranked #421 with 743 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Danna or Dorothy?
- Dorothy. Over the last five years Danna moved up 93 places; Dorothy moved up 114 places.
- Which is the older name, Danna or Dorothy?
- Danna entered the US charts in 1916; Dorothy was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Dorothy is the older name.
- How many people are named Danna and Dorothy?
- About 24,000 people named Danna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 272,000 people named Dorothy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Dannas or Dorothys in the classroom?
- Danna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Dorothy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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