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Dana

Girl name · 526 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Dana: 526 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 29 births in 1999.

With roots in both Hebrew and Old English, Dana can mean “arbiter” or “God is my judge” from the Hebrew Dan, or for Scottish and English speakers it may derive from the Old English Dene, meaning “from Denmark” or “Dane.” The name gained wide recognition through Dana Carvey, the American comedian known for his impressions on *Saturday Night Live*, and through the fictional FBI agent Dana Scully from *The X-Files*, a character that helped popularise the name for girls in the 1990s. Dana Point in California shares the name, though not directly linked to any one bearer. Notably, Dana is one of the few truly unisex names in Scottish registers, appearing for boys and girls, though it has leaned steadily feminine since the 1980s.