Given name & surname
Roxana
“born with the morning's first light”
Roxana is a variant of Roxanne. One Persian interpretation is “born with the morning's first light.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Roxana is a variant of Roxanne. One Persian interpretation is “born with the morning's first light.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Roxana is a variant of Roxanne. An origin associated with Roxanne is Persian. In English use, Roxana is a variant of Roxane. Roxane has been associated with Latin and Persian naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1882. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Roxana is a variant of Roxane. The history of Roxane gives this family its wider story. A form of Roxane is recorded as the name of Alexander the Great’s wife, the daughter of Oxyartes of Bactria. A later literary association is Daniel Defoe’s heroine Roxana; the two contexts belong to different periods of the name’s history.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Roxana through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 12,020
- 26 boys · 11,994 girls
- Most popular year
- 1987
- 320 babies
- 2025
- 77
- #2,366 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −16%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 77 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 2,366 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 15.6% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 315 in 1991. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (18). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 20,917 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.
Roxana’s family of names
In Spanish usage, Roxana has a diminutive in Chana. Roxana has a related form in Roxanne. In Spanish usage, Roxana has a conventional equivalent in the English form Rosanna.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Roxana has relatives in 10 languages.
12 related names in 10 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 11
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- RosannaEnglish
- RosanaPortuguese
- RossanaItalian
- Roxetteequivalent
- RoksanaPolish, Turkish
- ΡωξάνηGreek
- Rósannaequivalent
- Roxalanaequivalent
Show 3 moreShow fewer
People named Roxana
- RoxanaBactrian princess and wife of Alexander the Great346 BC–309 BC
- Roxana SaberiAmerican journalistborn 1977
- Roxana MînzatuRomanian politicianborn 1980
- Roxana CogianuRomanian rowerborn 1986
- Roxana ScarlatRomanian fencerborn 1975
- Roxana AnghelRomanian rowerborn 1998
- Roxana MaracineanuFrench swimmer and politicianborn 1975
- Roxana Dumitrescufencerborn 1967
- Roxana DíazVenezuelan actressborn 1972
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Roxana, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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