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2025 data, released 8 May 2026

2025 data, released 8 May 2026

Dane

Dane was the 821st most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 301 babies. Its best year was 1986, when it ranked 221st with 1,069 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 191 places. More babies were named Dane in the 1980s than in any other decade.

Meaning a Dane (person from Denmark) · English, Old Norse

Say it DAYN /deɪn/

Rank in 2025
#821 boys, up 13 places since 2020
Babies in 2025
301boys
Girls and boys
Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
Peak year
19861,069 babies
Total since 1880
33,979babies recorded

What does the name Dane mean?

Dane is an English surname from the ethnic term Dane, a person from Denmark, from Middle English Dane, Old Norse Danir and Old English Dene, as Wiktionary notes; it can also be a variant of Dean. As a first name it is a 20th-century transfer, like Scott or Norman. The origin of the people's name, Proto-Germanic *daniz, is uncertain.

Danir (Old Norse, “the Danes”)Dene (Old English, “the Danes”)

How sure is this? Well established.

Related names: Dean, Dana, Daine.

See also: English names.

Sources for this meaning

Dane popularity since 1880

05001k1.5k2k 1900192019401960198020002020
Boys Babies per year, US, from Social Security records. Years with fewer than 5 babies show as zero.

A few girls are given the name too: 386 since 1946.

YearRank (boys)Babies (boys)
2025#821301
2020#834273
2010#411684
2000#423583
1990#335739
1980#468321
1970#527235
1960#468288
1950#550151
1940#1,25429
1930#1,65620
1920#2,06516
1910——
1900——
1890——
1880——

How popular is Dane, counting every spelling?

Dane is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #749 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #821 for Dane on its own. Together these spellings went to 334 boys in 2025.

SpellingBabies 2025Official rankBabies 2021–2025
Dane301#8211,397
Dayne19#5,082110
Dain14#6,19770

Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.

How many kids will share the name Dane?

301 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Dane (0.08 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Dane born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 28 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Dane.

Chance of another Dane in a class of 20under 1 in 50US, born 2025
Most likely inMontanaunder 1 in 50 (2024)

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Dane?

About 30,400 people born in the US named Dane are alive today, with a median age of 32; half are between 18 and 43. That makes Dane mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.

0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980–8990+
Estimated people alive in the US with the name, by age, mid-2026. The darker bar holds the median age.

Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.

Dane by state

How common Dane was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Utah (4.3×), Idaho (3.6×), Minnesota (1.9×), Missouri (1.6×), Arizona (1.6×). In 18 states fewer than five boys a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.

Alaska: fewer than 5 a yearAK–Maine: fewer than 5 a yearME–Wisconsin: 0.22 per 1,000 babiesWI0.22Vermont: fewer than 5 a yearVT–New Hampshire: fewer than 5 a yearNH–Washington: 0.18 per 1,000 babiesWA0.18Idaho: 0.59 per 1,000 babiesID0.59Montana: 0.34 per 1,000 babiesMT0.34North Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearND–Minnesota: 0.30 per 1,000 babiesMN0.30Illinois: 0.20 per 1,000 babiesIL0.20Michigan: 0.14 per 1,000 babiesMI0.14New York: 0.13 per 1,000 babiesNY0.13Massachusetts: fewer than 5 a yearMA–Oregon: 0.09 per 1,000 babiesOR0.09Nevada: fewer than 5 a yearNV–Wyoming: fewer than 5 a yearWY–South Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearSD–Iowa: 0.25 per 1,000 babiesIA0.25Indiana: 0.24 per 1,000 babiesIN0.24Ohio: 0.20 per 1,000 babiesOH0.20Pennsylvania: 0.23 per 1,000 babiesPA0.23New Jersey: 0.06 per 1,000 babiesNJ0.06Connecticut: fewer than 5 a yearCT–Rhode Island: fewer than 5 a yearRI–California: 0.19 per 1,000 babiesCA0.19Utah: 0.69 per 1,000 babiesUT0.69Colorado: 0.09 per 1,000 babiesCO0.09Nebraska: fewer than 5 a yearNE–Missouri: 0.26 per 1,000 babiesMO0.26Kentucky: 0.18 per 1,000 babiesKY0.18West Virginia: fewer than 5 a yearWV–Virginia: 0.16 per 1,000 babiesVA0.16Maryland: 0.04 per 1,000 babiesMD0.04Delaware: fewer than 5 a yearDE–Arizona: 0.26 per 1,000 babiesAZ0.26New Mexico: 0.15 per 1,000 babiesNM0.15Kansas: 0.07 per 1,000 babiesKS0.07Arkansas: fewer than 5 a yearAR–Tennessee: 0.24 per 1,000 babiesTN0.24North Carolina: 0.10 per 1,000 babiesNC0.10South Carolina: 0.05 per 1,000 babiesSC0.05District of Columbia: fewer than 5 a yearDC–Oklahoma: 0.07 per 1,000 babiesOK0.07Louisiana: 0.13 per 1,000 babiesLA0.13Mississippi: fewer than 5 a yearMS–Alabama: fewer than 5 a yearAL–Georgia: 0.14 per 1,000 babiesGA0.14Hawaii: 0.32 per 1,000 babiesHI0.32Texas: 0.12 per 1,000 babiesTX0.12Florida: 0.15 per 1,000 babiesFL0.15
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex, Dane, boys, 2021–2025. Darker means more common.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Dane: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Dane, they share its era and feel.

Middle names for Dane · Sibling names for Dane

Questions about the name Dane

What does Dane mean?

Dane means “a Dane (person from Denmark)” (English, Old Norse origin). Certainty: well established.

How popular is the name Dane?

Dane was the 821st most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 301 babies. Its best year was 1986, when it ranked 221st with 1,069 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 191 places. More babies were named Dane in the 1980s than in any other decade.

Is Dane a boy or girl name?

In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Dane in the US.

Where is Dane most popular?

In 2021–2025, Dane was most common in Utah (0.69 per 1,000 boys), followed by Idaho and Montana.