Digna
Feminine · “worthy”
Digna is the Latin for worthy, and it is one of the very few names that is simply an adjective with nothing done to it. No ending was added and no ancestor is hiding behind it: a Roman family would have understood the word on sight, and a Spanish speaker still does. The gn in the middle is two separate sounds here, not the single one Italian makes of the same letters.
How old is the name Digna?
Digna first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Digna alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 500 people named Digna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Digna most popular?
Digna peaked in 1972, reaching #3276 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 9,932 places below that high. See the whole 1972 chart.
Where it comes from
From dignus to Digna
The story of Digna
Late Roman naming produced a crop of adjective-names that early Christians took up enthusiastically because they said something without invoking a god — Digna, Constantia, Felicitas, Victoria. Several women called Digna appear among the martyrs of the third and fourth centuries, which put the name in the calendar and kept it alive in Spain, Italy and the Philippines. American records carry it from Spanish-speaking families, and it has always been rare here. It is the sort of name that sounds abstract in English and completely ordinary in Spanish.
Meaning
worthy
From the Latin dignus, worthy or deserving, in its feminine form. The same root gives English dignity, indignation and deign. It was used as a personal name in the late Roman world and carried by several early Christian martyrs, which is how it reached the church calendar.
How the name formed
- dignus
- Digna
Related forms: Digna · Digna · Degna · Digna
Pronouncing Digna
DEEG-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the g and the n said separately. Italian would turn the same letters into the single soft sound of gnocchi; Spanish and Latin do not, and this is a Spanish name.
Nicknames for Digna
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
- 1950
- Most girls named
- 199624 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3276reached in 1972
- Change vs 2024
- −45.5%6 in 2025, from 11
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.
Digna in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Digna in Latin — same name
- Digna in Spanish — same name
- Degna in Italian — same name
- Digna in Portuguese — same name
Dignas among us
people named Digna are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Digna
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 Drucella test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Digna's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Drucella climbed just as high around 1932, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Drucella's path sketches the road Digna is walking now.
Digna 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
Digna beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Digna in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is a single word and needs no translation for a Spanish speaker.
- Five letters, two syllables, and nothing difficult in Spanish or English.
- It has a documented place in the martyrologies rather than being a modern coinage.
- It is genuinely rare in America, so a child will not meet another.
- English readers will try the Italian gn and produce DEEN-ya, which is a different name.
- It is close to the English word dignity, which colors how the name is heard in English-speaking rooms.
- A name that means worthy places a quiet expectation, which some children notice.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Digna
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dignas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Digna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Digna in 2025?
- Digna ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Digna?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Digna — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Digna with classmates?
- Digna will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Digna
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Digna? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Digna 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
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