Given name

Dawna

“born at daybreak; of the day's first light”

Dawna is a variant of Dawn. One English interpretation is “born at daybreak; of the day's first light.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

Dawna is a variant of Dawn. One English interpretation is “born at daybreak; of the day's first light.”

Explained through its name family

Where it comes from

Dawna is a variant of Dawn. An origin associated with Dawn is English.

Explained through its name family

How it developed

Built from English Dawn + a.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1919. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Dawna through the years

Babies since 1880
6,017
0 boys · 6,017 girls
Most popular year
1966
264 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
050100150200192019401960198020002025Highest share 19660.0
Dawna in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1919–2025, per million girls born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 264 in 1966. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 5,293 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.

Dawna’s family of names

Dawna has a related form in Dawn.

Walk Dawna’s family in the name graph

DawnaDawnahDawnDawnna

Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 2

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 1

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Similar names

If you love Dawna, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Nature

Adriene

Adriene is a variant of Adria. In Greek use, Adria carries the interpretation “from the Adriatic Sea region; woman with dark features.”

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Greek · Nature

Dianthe

“the flower of the gods”

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Nature

Darra

“a wise woman” · “from the oak tree”

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Nature

Lorra

“crowned with laurel; from the laurel tree”

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Nature

Chalena

“resembling the beautiful and meaningful flower”

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

Nature

Mlissa

“resembling a flower”

0Not recently recorded

>99% girls

English · Nature

Tina

Tina is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the river; also shortened torm of names ending in -tina.”

34RareCooling

>99% girls

Nature

Marne

“woman of the sea”

0Not recently recorded

4% boys · 96% girls

Sibling ideas

Names that share Dawna’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Dawna

A sister for Dawna