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Rana

#3,203 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Rana has been given to 4,732 babies in the U.S. since 1942. In 2025 it ranked #3,203 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1971, with 120 recorded.

Babies named Rana, 2025

1 in 66,300

Rana over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Rana: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Rana means

Rana has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Rana

One of the source’s documented entries for Rana records a meaning of to gaze, to look intently.

One of the source’s documented entries for Rana records a meaning of king.

A separate documented entry treats Rana as a alternate transcription of Persian. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,553 girls were recorded with the name Rana between 1942 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 120 in 1971; its best national rank was #1,032 in 1971.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,129 in 2020 to #3,203 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,466 in 2015 to #3,203 in 2025.

In the United States, 179 boys were recorded with the name Rana between 1974 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 15 in 2025; its best national rank was #5,811 in 1974.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #6,209 in 2020 to #6,070 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #6,595 in 2015 to #6,070 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Rana?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 66,300
50 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 32,100
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,203
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
45,959 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Rana sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 45,959 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Rana. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ranas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Rana was born before 1987 — so the typical Rana is around 38 today.

Median birth year
1987
About 38 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
22.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
30.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
4,469
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 22.8% of all recorded uses (1,036).

Is Rana rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+538
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−74
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+263
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.09×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
41.7%
Peak was 1971 (120)
Years since peak
54
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,032
1971

Spellings of Rana

Rana is not the most common spelling — Anna is, with 11.0% against Rana's 0.05%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Rana is used

Across 2016–2025, Rana was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 6,250 girls, against 1 in 25,570 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

016 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 6,250
  2. 2New York1 in 9,091
  3. 3California1 in 25,000
  4. 4Virginia1 in 33,333
  5. 5New Jersey1 in 50,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in 100,000
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in 100,000
  8. 8Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Rana around the world

Where Rana ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #2,138
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2002–2018
    #809
    in 2018
  • Ireland
    2004–2023
    #856
    in 2023
  • France
    1978–2025
    #1,752
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2017
    #481
    in 2017
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,968
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1962–1996
    #712
    in 1996

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Rana

People whose public names include Rana, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Rana in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Rana. Linked forms have their own page here.

RaneRaniaRianaEranaIranaRanja

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Rana by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,203
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 74
Best rank ever
#1,032
1971
Peak year
1971
120 that year
First recorded
1942
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,553
Count in 2025
50

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#6,070
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 139
Best rank ever
#5,811
1974
Peak year
2025
15 that year
First recorded
1974
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
179
Count in 2025
15

Names similar to Rana

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

RaniRandaRaniaSanaYanaNanaZanaTanaLuanaLeanaRandyIyanaIlanaRanyaHanaTyanaKeanaJeanaRaniyaQianaJoanaCianaIvanaRandi

Names with a curve like Rana

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Rana, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

HolleyMirnaAdriaTamarSusannahNicolaShaniRachellKarenaAngelicNicolleCelena

Sibling names for Rana

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Rana

Top names of 1971, Rana's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1971Girls' names starting with R