Dana (surname)

Dana (surname)

Dana (pronounced either /ˈdeɪnə/ or /ˈdænə/) as a surname may have several origins. In England, it came from dann, the valley of a meadow, and it may mean the dweller of that valley. In Continental Europe, it probably came from Dane (or Danish, from Denmark). This surname is related to Danese in Italy and it can be found mostly in the Piedmont region. It may also be a modification of Huguenot French origin, probably a variant of d'Aunay, of geographical origin. It may be also a Gaelic patronymic, since it is a common forename in Ireland. Dana is a relatively common surname in the USA, ranking 7161 out of 88,799 in the 1990 U.S. Census. Dana is also the Persian word for wisdom.

At least into the first half of the 19th century, all American Danas were descended or of close relatives to Richard Henry Dana (including William G. Dana), who arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts around 1640.