Given name & surname
Dane
“a man from Denmark”
Dane is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a man from Denmark.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a man from Denmark.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
It entered given-name use through an existing surname.
The story
Its naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Dane through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 33,979
- 33,593 boys · 386 girls
- Most popular year
- 1986
- 1,080 babies
- 2025
- 301
- #821 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −8%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 301 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 821 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 7.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 1,069 in 1986. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (29). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 29,787 as a first name in 2020; 2,749 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dane’s family of names
In German usage, Dane is a diminutive of Daniel. Dane has a related form in Dana. Dane has a related form in Dana.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Danielfull form · German
- Deanvariant
- Danavariant
- Daynevariant
- Dainvariant
- Danenvariant
- Dananvariant
- Danonvariant
Show 7 moreShow fewer
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Dane
- Dane DeHaanAmerican actorborn 1986
- Dane CookAmerican actor and comedianborn 1972
- Dane ClarkAmerican film actor (1912-1998)
- Dane Bird-SmithAustralian racewalker (born 1992)
- Dane InghamNew Zealand association football playerborn 1999
- Dane ScarlettEnglish footballerborn 2004
- Dane RichardsJamaican footballerborn 1983
- Dane van NiekerkSouth African cricketerborn 1993
- Dane RudhyarFrench-born American author, composer, and humanistic astrologer (1895–1985)
Characters named Dane: Black Knight (Marvel Comics, introduced in 1967).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Dane, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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>99% boys
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“from the dusty area” · “a courageous warrior”
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DeAndre
“a manly man”
>99% boys
Derek
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Denzel
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Brett
“woman of Britain or Brittany” · “a man from Britain or Brittany”
94% boys · 6% girls
Dalton
“from the town in the valley”
99% boys · 1% girls
Devon
“from the beautiful farmland; of the divine”
86% boys · 14% girls