Diane
Masculine · “divine”
Diane is given to girls far more often — 518,651 girls against 1,383 boys since 1880. See Diane as a girl name
Diane is the French form of a Roman goddess's name, and the most famous temple to her was destroyed by a man who wanted to be remembered. He said so at the time. The authorities executed him and made it a capital offense to record his name, which failed completely: it is in every account of the fire and everybody knows it.
How old is the name Diane?
Diane first appears in US birth records in 1933 — 92 years ago. The typical Diane alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 1,000 people named Diane are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Diane most popular?
Diane peaked in 1958, reaching #962 nationally. See the whole 1958 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From A Roman goddess of the wild and the moon to Diane
The story of Diane
The temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders, rebuilt several times and enormous, and in the fourth century before Christ a man burned it down. His stated motive was fame: he wanted his name to be remembered, and he said so under questioning. The Ephesians executed him and passed a law forbidding anybody to speak or write his name, on the reasoning that this would defeat the purpose. A historian recorded it anyway, in a passage explaining that he was doing so in order that the ban be understood, and every subsequent account has repeated it. The episode has given psychology a term and philosophy a small permanent problem about how to refuse somebody attention.
Meaningscholars disagree
divine, heavenly
The Latin name is connected to a root about daylight and the sky, the same one behind the word for a day and behind the chief Roman god's name, and the reading is the standard one. It is not certain: the goddess is old, probably older than Latin, and may have been an Italic deity whose name was reinterpreted once Latin got hold of it.
How the name formed
- A Roman goddess of the wild and the moon
- A temple at Ephesus among the seven wonders
- Diane as the French form of the name
- Very widely used in mid-century America
Related forms: Diane · Diana · Diana
Pronouncing Diane
dye-ANN
Two syllables with the stress at the back in English. French says it with the stress at the back too but with a nasal final vowel, and the Latin and Italian forms add a syllable and move the weight to the middle.
Nicknames for Diane
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
- 1933
- Most boys named
- 195862 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #962reached in 1958
- Change vs 1992
- +40.0%7 in 1993, 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.
Diane in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Diane in French — same name
- Diana in Italian — related form
- Diana in Spanish — related form
Dianes among us
people named Diane are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Diane sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- It carries a genuine ancient goddess with a great deal of story attached.
- Di and Dee are both immediate, though the first has an obvious drawback.
- It is strongly associated with one American generation.
- The commonest short form is identical in sound to an English verb.
- The spelling is on the register for boys as well, in very small numbers.
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What they receive
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Diane
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Dianes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Diane are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Diane in 2025?
- Diane is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Diane with classmates?
- Diane will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
David#35 · Daniel#22 · Donald#690 · Dennis#707 · Douglas#807 · Dylan#41 · Danny#628 · Dale#1409
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Diane? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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