Dani
- Pronunciation
- [Da-ni]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Feminine Of Daniel God Will Judge.
- Origin
- Spanish
About the Name Dani
Dani is a bright, friendly name usually understood as a feminine form of Daniel, the Hebrew name meaning "God will judge" or "God is my judge." Used across Spanish-speaking and English-speaking communities alike, it has the easy, approachable warmth of a short form that has grown comfortable as a full given name in its own right. Its crisp, two-syllable shape feels both casual and confident, equally at home in playful and formal settings.
The name's appeal lies in its blend of simplicity and spirit. As parents increasingly favor short, gender-flexible names, Dani has found new life as a fresh, contemporary choice that carries the meaningful biblical heritage of Daniel in a lighter, more playful form. It pairs an ancient, weighty meaning with a modern, breezy sound, which gives it broad appeal and an unfussy charm that works well across many cultures and generations. That balance of substance and lightness is much of what has drawn parents to it as a complete name rather than merely a nickname.
Dani first entered the US Social Security top-1000 for girls in 2018, a marker of its recent rise, and reached its peak in 2022 at rank #676. It registered 418 births in 2024 at rank #680, with 362 in 2023 at #777 and 431 in 2022, showing a name that has settled into a steady place since its debut. The variant Danny is recorded as a familiar alternate spelling of this lively name.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Dani
US Popularity History (2018–2025)
Annual US births named Dani by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2022 with 431 girls named Dani (girl rank #676 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #747 for girls (364 US births). That's 71 places below its 2022 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Dani Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Dani the strongest states are Arkansas, Mississippi, Nevada.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkansas | #397 | 49 |
| 2 | Mississippi | #411 | 55 |
| 3 | Nevada | #502 | 22 |
| 4 | Louisiana | #507 | 103 |
| 5 | Connecticut | #519 | 17 |
| 6 | Kentucky | #537 | 68 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | #579 | 37 |
| 8 | Alabama | #591 | 58 |
| 9 | Tennessee | #604 | 87 |
| 10 | Utah | #604 | 25 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | #1,016 | 61 |
| 2 | Maryland | #872 | 23 |
| 3 | Illinois | #841 | 33 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | #838 | 93 |
| 5 | Michigan | #818 | 68 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | #793 | 42 |
| 7 | North Carolina | #785 | 63 |
| 8 | California | #783 | 335 |
| 9 | Minnesota | #783 | 18 |
| 10 | Ohio | #776 | 75 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Dani in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danny | God Will Judge | Male | Hebrew |
Looking for names like Dani?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Dani to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Dani against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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