Head to head · Girls' names
Dayana vs Macy
#716 vs #718 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Dayana is a whisker ahead (#716 vs #718 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Macy leads 3 measures of 6; Dayana 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: Dayana —, Macy #892 — Macy higher
- 1890s: Dayana —, Macy #1077 — Macy higher
- 1900s: Dayana —, Macy #1163 — Macy higher
- 1910s: Dayana —, Macy #1414 — Macy higher
- 1920s: Dayana —, Macy #1639 — Macy higher
- 1930s: Dayana —, Macy #1916 — Macy higher
- 1940s: Dayana —, Macy #2662 — Macy higher
- 1950s: Dayana —, Macy #3306 — Macy higher
- 1960s: Dayana —, Macy #3945 — Macy higher
- 1970s: Dayana #6307, Macy #3074 — Macy higher
- 1980s: Dayana #3050, Macy #2158 — Macy higher
- 1990s: Dayana #1369, Macy #402 — Macy higher
- 2000s: Dayana #626, Macy #251 — Macy higher
- 2010s: Dayana #535, Macy #426 — Macy higher
- 2020s: Dayana #578, Macy #674 — Dayana higher
Macy stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Dayana took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Dayana | Macy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #892 |
| 1890s | — | #1077 |
| 1900s | — | #1163 |
| 1910s | — | #1414 |
| 1920s | — | #1639 |
| 1930s | — | #1916 |
| 1940s | — | #2662 |
| 1950s | — | #3306 |
| 1960s | — | #3945 |
| 1970s | #6307 | #3074 |
| 1980s | #3050 | #2158 |
| 1990s | #1369 | #402 |
| 2000s | #626 | #251 |
| 2010s | #535 | #426 |
| 2020s | #578 | #674 |
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
Dayana
Most often read as "divine, heavenly" — the sense behind Diana
The main reading takes Dayana as a phonetic spelling of Diana, whose name goes back to a Latin root connected with daylight and the divine, giving "heavenly" or "divine". A second route is through the longer name Dayanara, which has circulated in Puerto Rico and the wider Caribbean and has no agreed etymology of its own. The form Dayana is also in independent use in Russian- and Turkic-speaking countries, where it may have arrived through Diana as well.
Diana (Latin) → Diana (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese) → Dayana
How it traveled
Diana was the Roman goddess of the moon, wild animals and the hunt, and her name — from a root tied to daylight and the sky — was already old when the Empire spread it across Europe. It survived the fall of Rome as an ordinary given name in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Romania, and by the twentieth century it was common in Latin America too.
Macy
from a French place-name, the estate of Maccius
Macy is usually traced to Massy or Macey, French place-names from the Latin personal name Maccius. Other origins for the surname have been suggested.
Maccius → Massy → Macy
How it traveled
Rowland Hussey Macy went to sea on a Nantucket whaler as a young man, and the company says the red star of its logo came from a tattoo he got then. After several failed stores he opened one in New York that grew into the largest in the world.
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
Dayana
dah-YAH-nah
That is the Spanish reading, and the one the spelling is built for. Many English speakers say day-ANN-uh instead, treating it as a version of Diana. Both are in real use, so families with roots in either language usually settle on one early and correct gently.
- Daya — The most common short form in everyday Spanish-speaking use; also stands alone as a given name in South Asia.
- Yana — Taken from the end of the name; a standalone given name in Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian.
- Ana — Informal, drawn from the last two syllables; a full given name in its own right across the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world.
- Dai — Very informal, mostly family and close friends.
- Also Nana.
Macy
MAY-see
Two syllables, stressed on the first.
- Mace — A short form, though it is also a weapon and a spice.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Dayana if you want…
- a name with more sound in itDayana runs 3 syllables, Macy 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Daya, Yana and Ana
Choose Macy if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesMacy is 2 syllables to Dayana's 3
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Macy (Mace)
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
Dayana
Strengths
- Instantly recognizable as a form of Diana, so the name needs no explaining even where the spelling is new to someone.
- Works in both Spanish and English mouths, with a pronunciation that follows the letters in either language.
- Several ready-made short forms — Daya, Yana, Ana — all of which also work as full names.
To consider
- Dayana, Dayanna, Daiana, Dyana and plain Diana all sound close enough to be confused. Expect to spell it out, and expect Diana to be the default guess on forms and in email.
- The two pronunciations — dah-YAH-nah and day-ANN-uh — can pull in different directions between school, family and work. Most bearers pick one and simply repeat it.
- It has stepped back a little from its strongest years, so a child is likely to be the only Dayana in her class — pleasant for some families, and something to think about if being the only one is not what you want.
Macy
Strengths
- It is bright, friendly and easy to spell.
- It is familiar without being among the most common names.
To consider
- Nearly everyone will think of the department store and its parade.
- A very few boys have been given it; for them it will read as a girl's name everywhere.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Dayana and Macy 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 Dayana and Macy?
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 than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Dayana and Macy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Dayana or Macy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Dayana or Macy?
- Dayana, in 2025: Dayana ranked #716 with 392 babies; Macy ranked #718 with 390 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Dayana or Macy?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Dayana moved down 105 places; Macy moved down 97 places.
- Which is the older name, Dayana or Macy?
- Dayana entered the US charts in 1970; Macy entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Macy is the older name.
- How many people are named Dayana and Macy?
- About 15,500 people named Dayana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 31,500 people named Macy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Dayanas or Macys in the classroom?
- Dayana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Macy 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Dayana, Macy and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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