Dana (given name)

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Dana is a given name used for both females and males. It was among the 100 most popular names given to girls born in the United States between 1960 and 1990. It has since fallen in popularity and was ranked the 446th most popular name given to girls born in the United States in 2007.^[1] As a male forename it is well known in the United States, being in the 314th rank out of 1,219 in the 1990 U.S. Census.

The name has multiple derivations. It may come from "Dane" (from Denmark), the meaning of the common surname. It is also occasionally regarded as a feminine version of Daniel or a short version of feminine names such as Bogdana or Yordana. Dana is also an alternate spelling of the name for Danu, a Celtic fertility goddess. In Persian, the word literally means "knowledgeable", and some speculate that the name is first used as a first name in Shahnameh. It may also refer to the mountain Dana or Dena.The name is used in Persian for both female and male sexes. Dana or Danah, in Arabic, means "the most perfectly sized, valuable and beautiful pearl". This name is used mainly by Arabs of the Persian Gulf (Eastern Arabia), due to their traditional pearl diving professions wherein they gave different type of pearls names. It is used in the Arab world as a female name. In Hebrew, the name Dana means "arbiter" or "God is my judge." In Sanskrit and Pali, the word means "generosity."

People named Dana

Male

• Dana Allen, American inventor and business executive
• Dana Allison, American former professional baseball player
• Dana Altman, Creighton University basketball coach
• Dana Andersen, Canadian actor, improvisor, filmmaker, writer and director
• Dana Andrews, American actor
• Dana Ashbrook, American actor
• Dana Reed Bailey, American politician and lawyer
• Dana H. Ballard, American professor of computer science
• Dana Barros, American, owner of the Dana Barros Sports Complex
• Dana W. Bartlett, American Congregationalist minister
• Dana Beal, American social and political activist
• Dana Bible, American football coach and former player
• Dana X. Bible, American football player, coach, and athletic administrator
• Dana Bourgeois, luthier
• Dana Brinson, former professional American football wide receiver
• Dana Brown, surfer and film-maker, son of Bruce Brown
• Dana Brunetti, American film producer and social networking entrepreneur
• Dana Bullen, director of the Press Freedom Committee, former foreign editor of The Washington Star
• Dana Tai Soon Burgess, American performance artist and choreographer
• Dana Carpenter, midget professional wrestler who worked for the World Wrestling Federation
• Dana Carvey, American comedian who has appeared as a cast member of Saturday Night Live and in the Wayne's World movie series
• Dana Chambers, pen name of the mystery novelist Albert Leffingwell
• Dana Childs, U.S. Representative from Maine
• Dana K. Chipman, American military lawyer, former Judge Advocate General of the United States Army
• Dana L. Christensen, American federal judge, for the District of Montana
• Dana Colley, American musician, saxophonist in the alternative rock band Morphine
• Dana Countryman, American electronic music composer and performer, publisher of Cool and Strange Music Magazine
• Dana Dane (born Dana McLeese), rap artist
• Dana DeMuth, Major League Baseball umpire
• Dana Deshler, member of the Ohio House of Representatives
• Dana Dimel, American football coach and former player
• Dana A. Dorsey, American businessman, banker, and philanthropist
• Dana Dow, Republican former Maine state senator
• Dana Elcar, American television and movie character actor
• Dana Evans, American athlete, coach and athletics administrator
• Dana Eveland, American professional baseball pitcher
• Dana Ewell, American convicted triple murderer
• Dana Fillingim, American major league baseball pitcher
• Dana Gioia, American poet
• Dana Karl Glover, American trumpet player and music composer for video games, also known as Karl James or Dr. Dana
• Dana Goldman, professor of economics at the University of Southern California
• Dana Gonzales, American cinematographer
• Dana Gould, American comedian and comedy writer
• Dana McLean Greeley, founding president of the Unitarian Universalist Association
• Dana Hall, former American professional football player
• Dana Hall (musician), American jazz drummer, percussionist, composer, bandleader, and ethnomusicologist
• Dana Hamilton, American hammered dulcimer player
• Dana Hammond, American record producer, composer, songwriter, drummer and bass guitarist
• Dana Heitman, trumpeter for the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
• Dana Holgorsen, American football coach and former player
• Dana Howard (American football), former professional American football player
• Dana Howard (television), American former local TV news anchorman
• Dana Jennings, American journalist and author, New York Times editor
• Dana Jones, former American professional basketball player
• Dana Kafer, American college football player
• Dana Evan Kaplan, rabbi, writer on Reform Judaism and American Judaism
• Dana Key, American Christian rock singer and pastor
• Dana Kiecker, former major league baseball pitcher, sportscaster
• Dana M. King, American college football coach
• Dana Kirk (basketball), American college basketball coach
• Dana Knutson, American fantasy artist, known for illustrating role-playing games
• Dana Kunze, former champion high diver
• Dana Lamb, American travel writer, co-wrote with his wife Ginger
• Dana Lambert, Canadian author, politician and cannabis legalization activist
• Dana LeVangie, American professional baseball player, scout and coach
• Dana Lewis, Canadian TV journalist
• Dana Loconto, American professional tennis referee
• Dana Lyons, folk music and alternative rock musician
• Dana MacDuff, American film producer and actor
• Dana Ahmed Majid, Iraqi Kurdish politician, former governor of Sulaymaniah
• Dana Malone, American politician, attorney general of Massachusetts
• Dana McLemore, former professional American football cornerback
• Dana G. Mead, American businessman, former chairman of MIT's board of trustees
• Dana Milbank, American journalist
• Dana Mohler-Faria, American education administrator, president of Bridgewater State University
• Dana Morgan, Jr., bassist for the Warlocks
• Dana Carleton Munro, American historian
• Dana Murzyn, former Canadian professional ice hockey league player
• Dana S. Nau, professor of computer science and systems research at the University of Maryland, College Park
• Dana Nafziger, American football player
• Dana Nielsen, American mix engineer, audio engineer, record producer and saxophonist
• Dana Olsen, American scriptwriter
• Dana Pagett, American professional basketball player and coach
• Dana Peterson, American political consultant, husband of Louisiana state senator Karen Carter Peterson
• Dana J. H. Pittard, American major general
• Dana Porter, Canadian politician and jurist
• Dana Quigley, American professional golfer
• Dana Redd, American Democratic politician, mayor of Camden, New Jersey
• Dana G. "Buck" Rinehart, 50th mayor of Columbus, Ohio
• Dana Rohrabacher, U.S. Representative (R-CA)
• "Dangerous" Dana Rosenblatt, American world champion middleweight boxer
• Dana Fuller Ross, pen name used by Western novelists Noel B. Gerson and James M. Reasoner
• Dana P. Rowe, American musical theater composer
• Dana R. Rowe, American (Massachusetts-based) teacher, writer, poet and playwright
• Dana Rucker, American college football coach
• Dana Makoto Sabraw, United States federal judge
• Dana Sawyer, American biographer and professor of religion
• Dana Scott, American mathematician
• Dana Adam Shapiro, American film director
• Dana Sheridan, American flute maker
• Dana Shertz, American businessman
• Dana Shires, American physician, research scientist, and inventor
• Dana A. Simmons, American air force general
• Dana Snyder, American comedian and actor
• Dana Snyman, South African journalist, writer and playwright
• Dana Stein, American Democratic politician
• Dana Stinson, American hip hop and R&B record producer, rapper and singer, known by the stage name Rockwilder
• Dana Stone, American photo-journalist
• Dana Strum, heavy metal bassist (Slaughter)
• Dana Stubblefield, American professional football defensive tackle
• Dana Summers, American cartoonist (Bound and Gagged, The Middletons)
• Dana Taylor (soccer), American college soccer coach
• Dana Tomlin, American cartographer, inventor of map algebra
• Dana Tyrell, American professional ice hockey player
• Dana Ullman, American homeopathy proponent
• Dana Veth, former Bahamian footballer
• Dana Wachs, American lawyer and politician
• Dana Ward, professor emeritus of political studies at Pitzer College
• Dana Wells, retired American football nose tackle
• Dana Whipkey, American actor
• Dana White, President of the UFC (Ultimate fighting Championship) ^[2]
• L. Dana Wilgress, Canadian diplomat
• Dana Williams, retired American professional baseball player
• Dana Wilson, American composer, jazz pianist, and teacher
• Dana Wilson (rugby league), Cook Islands professional rugby league player
• Dana Zimmerman, American paralympic athlete
• Dana Rahman karim دانا رحمان, kurdish people engineer

Female

• Dana (South Korean singer), South Korean pop singer, member of girl group the Grace
• Dana Al-Nasrallah, Kuwaiti Olympic sprinter
• Dana al-Salem, technology entrepreneur, co-founder of Yahoo! Europe
• Dana Anderson, Canadian former field hockey player
• Dana Andrews (musician), American singer and musician, contestant on the TV show Rockstar: Supernova
• Dana Angluin, professor of computer science at Yale University
• Dana Antal, Canadian ice hockey player, gold medalist at the 2002 Winter Olympics
• Dana Beth Ardi, American entrepreneur, human capitalist, author, and contemporary art collector
• Dana Barron, American actress
• Dana Bash, CNN News reporter and anchorwoman
• Dana Belben, American voice actress, animator, screenwriter, effects artist, and comedienne
• Dana Berger, Israeli singer-songwriter and occasional actress
• Dana Berliner, American lawyer, litigation director at the Institute for Justice
• Dana Blair, best senpai EUW
• Dana H. Born, brigadier general in the United States Air Force
• Dana Brožková, Czech orienteering competitor
• Dana Buchman, fashion designer
• Dana Cameron, American archaeologist, and author of award-winning crime fiction and urban fantasy
• Dana Carpender, American food writer, best known for writing about low carbohydrate dieting
• Dana Cervantes, Spanish Olympic pole vaulter
• Dana "Pokey" Chatman, general manager and head coach of the Chicago Sky of the WNBA
• Dana Chladek, Czechoslovak-born American Olympic slalom kayaker and coach
• Dana Claxton, Hunkpapa Lakota filmmaker, photographer and performance artist
• Dana Coons, American long distance runner
• Dana Cowin, magazine editor (Food & Wine, Mademoiselle, HG)
• Dana Cuff, American architect, professor, and founding director of UCLA's cityLAB
• Dana Davis, American actress, known for 10 Things I Hate About You and Franklin & Bash
• Dana Dawson, American actress and singer
• Dana DeArmond, American pornographic actress
• Dana Delany, American film, stage, and television actress
• Dana Dormann, American professional golfer, also played as Dana Lofland
• Dana Ellis, Canadian pole vaulter
• Dana Eskelson, American television, film, and theater actress
• Dana Fabe, lawyer, Chief Justice of Alaska Supreme Court
• Dana Faletic, Australian Olympic rower
• Dana Fecková, Slovak football striker
• Dana Ferguson, Canadian curler
• Dana Flynn, also known as Didem Erol, Australian-born Turkish-American actress, model, and TV host
• Dana Fox, American screenwriter
• Dana Frankfort, New York-based artist, painting professor at Boston University College of Fine Arts
• Dana Fuchs, American singer, songwriter, actress, and voice actress
• Dana Gibson, president of Sam Houston State University
• Dana Gillespie, English actress and singer
• Dana E. Glauberman, American film editor
• Dana Glover (singer), American pop singer and songwriter
• Dana Goldstein, American journalist and editor
• Dana Goodyear, American journalist, poet and author, co-founder of Figment online community
• Dana Sue Gray, American serial killer
• Dana Hadačová, Czech Olympic table tennis player
• Dana Haidar, Jordanian taekwondo competitor
• Dana Hee, American Olympic taekwondo competitor, motivational speaker and stuntwoman
• Dana Hill, American actress and voice actor
• Dana Hoey, American photographer
• Dana Howard (contactee), author who claimed she married a Venusian and raised a family on Venus
• Dana Humby, former New Zealand association football player
• Dana Hussain, sprinter on Iraq's national track and field team
• Dana International, Israeli singer (born Yaron Cohen, later Sharon Cohen), winner of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest
• Dana Ivey, American character actress
• Dana Ivgy, Israeli actress
• Dana Jacobson, American sports journalist and former ESPN anchor
• Dana Jurásková, Czech politician, former Minister of Health
• Dana Kerem, Israeli football defender
• Dana Kimmell, American actress
• Dana King, former American TV news anchor
• Dana Kirk (swimmer), American Olympic swimmer
• Dana Kletter, American musician and writer
• Dana Kuchtová, Czech Green politician, former Minister of Education
• Dana Levin (artist), American Classical Realism painter
• Dana Levin (poet), American poet and creative writing instructor
• Dana Lixenberg, Dutch photographer
• Dana Loesch, American conservative TV and radio host
• Dana Mann, American slalom canoer, formerly competed for Slovakia as Dana Beňušová
• Dana Marie, Canadian Christian rock singer
• Dana Martanová, former Czechoslovak slalom canoer
• Dana Marton, romantic suspense novelist
• Dana Mathis, American pop singer and songwriter
• Dana McCauley, Canadian chef and food writer
• Dana McVicker, American country music singer
• Donella H. "Dana" Meadows, American environmental scientist, teacher and writer
• Dana Medřická, Czechoslovak film actress
• Dana Murphy, American Republican politician from Oklahoma
• Dana Nălbaru, Romanian singer, songwriter, and musician, member of Hi-Q
• Dana D. Nelson, professor of English at Vanderbilt University, progressive advocate for citizenship and democracy
• Dana Nutu, Romanian-Australian chess player and trainer, also known as Daniela Nuțu-Gajić
• Dana Oldfather, American oil painter and dinnerware designer
• Dana Olmert, Israeli left-wing activist, literary theorist and editor, daughter of Ehud Olmert
• Dana Owens, also known as Queen Latifah, American rapper, singer and actress
• Dana Parish, American singer and songwriter
• Dana Perino, former White House press secretary
• Dana Plato, American actress
• Dana Plotogea, Romanian Olympic biathlete
• Dana Priest, journalist and author, national security correspondent for the Washington Post
• Dana Procházková, Czechoslovak orienteering competitor
• Dana Protopopescu, Romanian-Belgian pianist and music instructor
• Dana Pyritz, German Olympic rower
• Dana Randall, professor of theoretical computer science at Georgia Tech
• Dana Ranga, Romanian writer and film director
• Dana Rayne, American dance and pop singer
• Dana Reason, Canadian pianist and composer
• Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve, also billed as Dana Morosini
• Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Latvian chess player
• Dana Ron, Israeli computer scientist, professor of electrical engineering
• Dana Rosendorff, Australian actress
• Dana Rosemary Scallon, Irish singer and politician, winner of the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest, former MEP
• Dana Schechter, singer-songwriter with the band Bee and Flower
• Dana Schoenfield, American Olympic swimmer
• Dana Schutz, American painter
• Dana Seetahal, Trinidadian politician and attorney
• Dana Shrader, American Olympic swimmer
• Dana Simpson, American cartoonist (Heavenly Nostrils, Ozy and Millie)
• Dana Sizemore, Philanthropist and singer (known for manjur performances) from the Persian Gulf (Bahrain)
• Dana Spálenská, Czechoslovak Olympic luger
• Dana Sparks, American television actress
• Dana Spiotta, American novelist
• Dana Stabenow, Alaskan author
• Dana Stephensen, Australian ballerina
• Dana Stevens (critic), movie critic at Slate magazine
• Dana Stevens (screenwriter), American screenwriter and TV producer
• Dana Suesse, American musician, composer and lyricist
• Dana Swanson, American singer, actress and writer
• Dana Syslová, Czech actress
• Dana Telsey, American equity research analyst
• Dana Thomas, American fashion and culture journalist
• Dana Tyler, American local TV news anchor
• Dana Ulery, American computer scientist
• Dana Valery, Italian-born singer and actress
• Dana van Dreven, also known as DJ Lady Dana, Dutch DJ
• Dana Vavřačová, retired Czech competitive race walker
• Dana Vávrová, Czech-German film actress and director
• Dana Velďáková, Slovak Olympic triple jumper
• Dana Verzichová, Czech actress
• Dana Vespoli, American pornographic actress and director
• Dana Vollmer, American swimmer
• Dana Weigel, NASA flight director
• Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, American actress
• Dana Wilson, actress and novelist, wife of producer Albert R. Broccoli, mother of producer Michael G. Wilson
• Dana Winner, Belgian singer
• Dana Wolfe, American journalist and TV producer
• Dana Wortley, Australian politician
• Dana Wright (born 1959), Canadian former hurdler
• Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter), actress
• Dana Wyse, Canadian writer and visual artist
• Dana Young, American politician
• Dana Zátopková, Czech javelin thrower, Olympic gold medal winner, wife of runner Emil Zátopek
• Dana Zhalko-Tytarenko, Canadian figure skater

Fiction

• Dana, fictional intern on the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, played by Jasika Nicole
• Dana, on the television show Angel, played by Navi Rawat
• Dana, the title character's lover in the Italian photo comic Killing (later revived as Sadistik: The Diabolikal Super-Kriminal)
• Dana Appleton, the lawyer opposite Jim Carrey in the 1997 film Liar Liar, portrayed by Swoosie Kurtz
• Dana Barrett, featured in the Ghostbusters movies, played by actress Sigourney Weaver
• Dana Carrington, minor character in the American TV series Dynasty, played by Leann Hunley
• Dana Cruz, character on Zoey 101, played by Kristin Herrera
• Dana Dearden, obsessed Superman fan who called herself Superwoman
• Dana Fairbanks, main character from Showtime's lesbian drama series The L Word, played by actress Erin Daniels
• Dana Foster, fictional character on Step By Step, portrayed by Staci Keanan
• Dana Freeling, a female character in the film Poltergeist (1982), portrayed by late actress Dominique Dunne
• Dana Knightstone, fictional novelist, main character of the Dana Knightstone series of games
• Dana Lambert, regular character on the TV show Mission: Impossible, played by Lesley Ann Warren
• Dana Mercer, younger sister of main character Alex Mercer in the video game Prototype
• Dana Mitchell, on the show Lightspeed Rescue Power Rangers, played by Alison MacInnis
• Dana Scully, main character on the television show The X-Files, portrayed by Gillian Anderson
• Dana Sterling, from the Robotech anime television series
• Dana Stevens, a transsexual character featured in Chris Bohjalian's novel Trans-Sister Radio
• Dana Tan, Batman's girlfriend on the TV series Batman Beyond
• Dana Taylor, the former name of Zach Young on the television show Desperate Housewives, played by Cody Kasch
• Dana Whitaker, a character in the television series Sports Night, portrayed by Felicity Huffman
• Dana Wolf, on the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe, played by Diane Willems

Mythology

• Danu (Irish goddess), mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, known as Dana in modern Irish

See also

• Dana (disambiguation)
• Dannah Feinglass
• Danaë
• Dayna
• All pages beginning with "Dana"

References