MEANING & HISTORY
What does Danica mean?
Danica is a Slavic name formed from a word for the morning star, the appearance of Venus before sunrise. It was borrowed into English and Philippine naming.
Its meaning is astronomical rather than a diminutive of Daniel, despite the shared first letters. The spelling records a full inherited name with a specific Slavic word association.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ˈdanika/Standard-Tagalog
- [ˌd̪aː.n̪ɪˈx̠a]Standard-Tagalog
Da · ni · ca3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from English Danica, from Slavic female given name, from the Slavic name for the Morning Star (an aspect of the planet Venus).
a female given name from English
Wiktionary: Danica (Tagalog) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
CebuanoEtymology & source
Borrowed from English Danica, from Slavic female given name, from the Slavic name for the Morning Star (an aspect of the planet Venus).
a female given name from English
Wiktionary: Danica (Cebuano) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
From Slavic female given name, from the Slavic name for the Morning Star (an aspect of the planet Venus).
A female given name from the Slavic languages.
Wiktionary: Danica (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Danica
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Danica Sotto
Filipino actress
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
3
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Danica Sotto, Danica Bolos
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Danica in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Related forms & spellings
Related forms may have their own language histories. They are not included in this spelling’s PSA count.
Similar names to Danica
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Danita♀Feminine diminutive of Daniel
- Dakila·Great; outstanding, as a Philippine word
- Dana♂♀Surname-derived name; also short for Daniel
- Dani♂♀Short form of Daniel or Daniela
- Daniel♂God is my judge
- Danilo♂Form of Daniel; God is my judge
- Daria♀Feminine form of Darius
- Monica♀Name of Saint Augustine’s mother
What rhymes with Danica?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Danica further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q1458328 — Danica (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Danica Sotto (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1458328 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Danica Bolos (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1458328 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Danica (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Danica (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Danica (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Danica (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.