Dana has several sources: in English it began as a surname and a feminine form of Dan, read as "judge", in Persian the word dana means "wise", and it is also linked to Danu, the mother goddess of Irish myth. Americans know it from FBI agent Dana Scully of The X-Files. In the United States Dana ranked number 311 in 2000 and has slipped steadily since, from number 857 in 2015 to number 1027 in 2025.