Santana
Feminine · “Saint Anne”
Santana is given to both — 5,941 girls and 7,785 boys since 1880. See Santana as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Santana contracts Santa Ana — Saint Anne, Mary's mother — and the Hebrew behind Anne means grace.
How old is the name Santana?
Santana first appears in US birth records in 1910 — 115 years ago. The typical Santana alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 5,800 people named Santana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Santana most popular?
Santana peaked in 1985, reaching #522 nationally. Today it ranks #2051, 1,529 places below that high. See the whole 1985 chart.
Where it comes from
From channah to Santana
The story of Santana
Spanish and Portuguese naming produced surnames from shrine dedications, and Santana is among the commonest. The Santa Ana winds of southern California carry the fuller form. Carlos Santana made the name globally familiar from 1969. It appears in American records as a girls' given name in current use.
Meaning
Saint Anne
From the Spanish Santa Ana, run together as a surname and place name. Ana descends from the Hebrew channah, 'grace' or 'favor'. Anne is named as Mary's mother in the second-century Protoevangelium of James rather than in the canonical gospels. The contraction is documented.
How the name formed
- channah
- Santa Ana
- Santana
Related forms: Santana · Sant'Ana · Santanna
Pronouncing Santana
san-TAH-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Spanish gives every vowel a full value with no reduction.
Nicknames for Santana
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
- 1910
- Most girls named
- 1985385 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #522reached in 1985
- Change vs 2024
- −14.0%92 in 2025, from 107
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.
Santana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Santana in Spanish — same name
- Sant'Ana in Portuguese — related form
- Santanna in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Arizona.
Santanas among us
people named Santana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 17,470 born in 2025 was named Santana
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 Mariann test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Santana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mariann climbed just as high around 1957, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mariann's path sketches the road Santana is walking now.
Santana 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
Where Santana is headed
Santana should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Santana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Santana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The grace meaning behind Ana is transparent and undisputed.
- Ana is available as a short form with an enormous record.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- One musician dominates the association for many people.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- Anne's presence in tradition rather than scripture is worth knowing.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Santana to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Santana
Feminine · #2051 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Santanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,800 people named Santana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Santana in 2025?
- Santana ranks #2051 among US girl names in 2025, with 92 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Santana?
- About 1 in every 17,470 US girls born in 2025 was named Santana — 92 in all.
- Will my child share the name Santana with classmates?
- Santana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Santana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Blythe#2051 · Marla#2051 · Star#2051 · Sade#2051 · Ryah#2051 · Jaylynn#2051 · Amya#2051 · Yvonne#2051
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Santana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Santana and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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