MEANING & HISTORY
What does Diana mean?
Diana is the Latin name of the Roman goddess associated with the moon and hunting. Its linguistic history is connected with old words for the divine or heavenly.
Moon is therefore a mythological association rather than the entire literal root. The name was borrowed into English and many other languages while preserving its classical identity.
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.
Spanish
- /ˈdjana/
- [ˈd̪ja.na]
- /diˈana/
- [d̪iˈa.na]
Dia · na2 source divisions
Di · a · na3 source divisions
Dia · na, Di · a · na4 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.
CebuanoEtymology & source
From English Diana, borrowed from Latin Diāna.
a female given name from English
EnglishEtymology & source
Borrowed from Late Latin Diāna, short form of Latin Dīāna, derived by syncope from Old Latin Dīvāna, equivalent to dīvus + -āna; roughly akin to Proto-Italic *deiwā (“goddess”) + Proto-Indo-European *-néh₂. Originally an Old Italic divinity of light and the moon; later identified as the Roman counterpart to Greek goddess Artemis. Cognate of Attic Greek Διώνη (Diṓnē), similarly syncopated from older Ancient Greek Διϝωνη (Diwōnē), whence via Latin Diōne is derived English Dione used in various ways across astronomy, chemistry, biology, and as a given name. From the same root Proto-Indo-European *dyúh₃onh₂- also potentially cognate to English June via Latin Jūnō.
A female given name from Latin.
SpanishEtymology & source
Derived from Latin Diāna.
a female given name from Latin, equivalent to English Diana
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 Diana
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
Diana Zubiri
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
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
3
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Diana Zubiri, Diana Lynn Ditan
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Diana 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 →
Similar names to Diana
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
- Dana♂♀Surname-derived name; also short for Daniel
- Dina♀Form of Dinah; also a short name in other languages
- Kiana♀Hawaiian form of Diana; also a modern Kian-family form
- Adriana♀Feminine form of Adrian; from Hadria
- Ana♀Grace or favour
- Ariana♀Form of Ariadne; most holy
- Dianne♀Variant of Diane, from Latin Diana
- Didang♀Familiar form of Candida; bright-white name family
What rhymes with Diana?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Diana further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q645412 — Diana (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Diana Zubiri (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q645412 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Diana Lynn Ditan (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q645412 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Diana (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Diana (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Diana (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Diana (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.