Danaka
A feminine name derived from Sanskrit meaning "sun", "gift" or "blessing".
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the first name Danaka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Danaka today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danaka births was 2008 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danaka. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
136
~ 1 in 2,520,252 Americans
Peak year
2008
17 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2015 SSA rank
#17,083
Tracked since 1975
Census
Danaka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 192 people with the first name Danaka, which placed it at #39,369 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#39,369
National first-name rank
People counted
192
192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Danaka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danaka is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.9%) and Two or More Races (9.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Danaka described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Danaka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 131
- Black or African American10.9% · 21
- Two or more races9.4% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Danaka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danaka from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 63 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Danaka remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Danaka by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Danaka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Danaka
The name Danaka is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, with its roots dating back to ancient India. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "dānaka," which means "giver" or "donor." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have been associated with generosity, benevolence, or philanthropy in its early days.
One of the earliest known references to the name Danaka can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Danaka is mentioned as a sage who imparted wisdom and guidance to the Pandava princes during their exile. This association with spiritual knowledge and mentorship further enriches the meaning of the name.
Historical records indicate that the name Danaka was prevalent in various regions of ancient India, particularly in the northern and central parts of the subcontinent. It was commonly used among the Brahmin community, which traditionally held a revered status in Hindu society.
Tracing the earliest recorded examples of individuals bearing the name Danaka is a challenging task due to the scarcity of documented historical records from that era. However, some notable figures who carried this name include:
1. Danaka Mishra (c. 8th century CE): A renowned scholar and philosopher from the Mithila region of India. He is credited with contributing to the development of the Navya-Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy.
2. Danaka Bhatta (c. 11th century CE): A highly respected Sanskrit grammarian and linguist who wrote several influential treatises on grammar and language.
3. Danaka Rajendra (c. 12th century CE): A king from the Chaulukya dynasty who ruled over parts of present-day Gujarat and Rajasthan in western India.
4. Danaka Pandita (c. 14th century CE): A celebrated poet and writer from the Vijayanagara Empire in southern India. His works were highly praised for their literary merit and poetic style.
5. Danaka Deva (c. 16th century CE): A renowned architect and temple builder who contributed to the construction of several iconic Hindu temples in the Deccan region of India.
While the name Danaka may have fallen out of widespread use in recent times, its historical significance and linguistic roots continue to serve as a testament to the rich cultural heritage of ancient India.
People
Danaka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danaka as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Danaka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danaka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danaka going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,520,252 US residents.
Is Danaka a common name?
We classify Danaka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 139 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danaka most popular?
The single biggest year for Danaka was 2008, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danaka is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Danaka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 192 people with the name Danaka, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,369 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Danaka in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Danaka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danaka appears almost entirely female. Of the 196 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Danaka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danaka is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.9%) and Two or More Races (9.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Danaka most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Danaka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (131 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Danaka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Danaka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Danaka in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Danaka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Danaka in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Danaka can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Danaka?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.