Dwanna
A combination of the names Dawn and Anna; dawn's beginning
Name Census estimates that about 359 living Americans carry the first name Dwanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dwanna today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dwanna births was 1970 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dwanna. 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
359
~ 1 in 954,747 Americans
Peak year
1970
27 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1996 SSA rank
#14,143
Tracked since 1936
Census
Dwanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 387 people with the first name Dwanna, which placed it at #24,748 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
#24,748
National first-name rank
People counted
387
387 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
57.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dwanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dwanna is Black at 57.4%. The next largest groups are White (37.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Dwanna 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 Dwanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American57.4% · 222
- White37.2% · 144
- Two or more races3.4% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Dwanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dwanna from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 129 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dwanna 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 Dwanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dwannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Louisiana, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Dwanna, while Texas, Ohio, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dwanna
The name Dwanna is believed to have originated from the Old English word "dwænan," which means "to lead astray" or "to deceive." This name has its roots in the Germanic languages spoken in northern Europe during the medieval period.
One of the earliest known references to the name Dwanna can be found in the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, where it was mentioned as the name of a minor nobleman who lived in the 9th century. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until several centuries later.
In the 12th century, there was a notable figure named Dwanna of Exeter, a renowned scholar and theologian who wrote extensively on the subjects of philosophy and religion. Her works were widely studied in monastic schools across Europe during that time.
During the Renaissance period, a woman named Dwanna Borghese was a prominent patron of the arts in Italy. She commissioned several famous works of art, including sculptures and paintings, which can still be seen in various museums and galleries throughout the country.
In the 17th century, Dwanna Cartwright was a celebrated English playwright and poet. Her plays were performed in the theaters of London and enjoyed great success during her lifetime.
Another notable figure with the name Dwanna was Dwanna Livingston, an American pioneer and explorer who was among the first settlers in the Oregon Territory in the early 19th century. She documented her experiences in a journal that has become an important historical record of that era.
These are just a few examples of individuals named Dwanna who have left their mark on history. While the name may not be as common today, it has a rich and fascinating heritage that spans across multiple cultures and time periods.
People
Dwanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dwanna 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
Dwanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dwanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 359 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dwanna 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 954,747 US residents.
Is Dwanna a common name?
We classify Dwanna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 444 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dwanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Dwanna was 1970, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dwanna is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dwanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 387 people with the name Dwanna, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,748 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 Dwanna 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 Dwanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dwanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 388 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Dwanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dwanna is Black at 57.4%. The next largest groups are White (37.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Dwanna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dwanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.4% (222 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 Dwanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dwanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dwanna 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 Dwanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dwanna 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 Dwanna 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 people share the name Dwanna?
Find out how many people have the name Dwanna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.