Danella
Feminine · “Hebrew Daniel”
English has no feminine suffix of its own, so it borrows. Danella, Danielle, Danita and Daniela are four ways of turning Daniel into a girl's name, taken from Italian, French, Spanish and Latin in turn.
How old is the name Danella?
Danella first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Danella alive today was born around 1979, making them about 46 years old. About 800 people named Danella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Danella most popular?
Danella peaked in 1943, reaching #2447 nationally. Today it ranks #10107, 7,660 places below that high. See the whole 1943 chart.
Where it comes from
From Daniyyel to Danella
The story of Danella
Latin marked feminines with -a, and the Romance languages that grew out of it developed their own affectionate endings: Italian -ella and -etta, Spanish -ita, French -elle and -ine. English inherited none of them and imported all of them, which is why one male name in American use can generate half a dozen female forms with no rule for choosing between them. Daniel gives Danielle by the French route, Daniela by the plain Latin one, Danella and Daniella by the Italian, Danita by the Spanish. Speakers treat them as different names rather than as variants, and the data agrees: they peak in different decades. Danella's is 1943, Danielle's is forty years later. A borrowed suffix behaves like a name of its own once English has it, which is also how -lyn, -leigh and -ana became productive.
Meaning
Hebrew Daniel, God is my judge
Danella is a feminine formation on Daniel, from Hebrew Daniyyel, a sentence name meaning God is my judge. The -ella ending is a borrowed Romance diminutive and adds no separate sense. The name is an American formation; its peak is 1943.
How the name formed
- Daniyyel
- Daniel
- Danella
Related forms: Daniella · Danielle · Daniela
Pronouncing Danella
duh-NEL-uh
Three syllables, stress on the second. Danella and Daniella differ by one syllable in careful speech and not at all in fast speech.
Nicknames for Danella
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 200721 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2447reached in 1943
- Change vs 2023
- +80.0%9 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Danella in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Daniella in Italian — spelling variant
- Danielle in French — related form
- Daniela in Spanish — related form
Danellas among us
people named Danella are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 178,585 born in 2025 was named Danella
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Toye test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Danella's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Toye climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Toye's path sketches the road Danella is walking now.
Danella sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Danella beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Danella in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Dani, Nella and Ella are three usable short forms in different styles.
- The Hebrew name behind it is documented and widely known.
- Three syllables with a clear central stress.
- Daniella and Daniela are both more common spellings.
- It will be assumed to be a variant of Danielle.
- The 1943 peak is well before the Danielle wave, which surprises people.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Danella to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Danella? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Danella
Feminine · #10107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Danellas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Danella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Danella in 2025?
- Danella ranks #10107 among US girl names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Danella?
- About 1 in every 178,585 US girls born in 2025 was named Danella — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Danella with classmates?
- Danella will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Danella
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Berta#10107 · Jettie#10107 · Maye#10107 · Osa#10107 · Fidelia#10107 · Alysa#10107 · Su#10107 · Willie#10107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Danella? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Danella and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle