Anika has two separate sources: in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands it is a diminutive of Anna, "grace" or "favor", while in India it is a Sanskrit name explained as "graceful" and used as a title of the goddess Durga. That double heritage makes it popular with both Indian-American and European-American parents. Anika has been in the US top 1000 every year since 2000, peaked at number 479 in 2004 and ranks number 955 in 2025.