Given name
Danica
“of the morning star”
Danica is used as a given name. One Slavic interpretation is “of the morning star.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Slavic interpretation is “of the morning star.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Slavic.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1916. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Danica through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 16,522
- 0 boys · 16,522 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 1,109 babies
- 2025
- 127
- #1,634 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −39%
- Cooling
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 127 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,634 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 38.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 1,109 in 2007. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (16). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 15,391 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Danica’s family of names
In Slovak usage, Danica has a diminutive in Danka. Danica has a related form in Dana. In English usage, Danica has a related form in Danika.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Danica
- Danica PatrickAmerican racecar driver (born 1982)
- Danica McKellarAmerican actress and writerborn 1975
- Danica CurcicSerbian-born Danish actressborn 1985
- Danica RoemAmerican journalist and politicianborn 1984
- Danica GrujičićSerbian health minister since 2022born 1959
- Danica RadenkovićSerbian volleyball playerborn 1992
- Danica CrnogorčevićMontenegrin singerborn 1993
- Danica MarkovićSerbian poet1879–1932
- Danica SimšičSlovenian journalistborn 1955
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Danica, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Zora
“born at dawn; aurora”
1% boys · 99% girls
Lechsinska
“a beautiful maiden of the forest”
>99% girls
Szikora
“tit (bird)”
—
Kaleen
“resembling a delicate flower”
>99% girls
Sliwa
“plum tree”
—
Sveta
“a brilliant star's light”
2% boys · 98% girls
Lisnic
“forest dweller”
—
Elana
“from the oak tree”
>99% girls