How popular is the baby name Dwanna in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Dwanna.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Dwanna


Posts that mention the name Dwanna

Where did the baby name Dwanna come from in 1936?

Illustration of Dwanna Lee Newman
Dwanna Lee Newman

The name Dwanna first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1936:

  • 1938: unlisted
  • 1937: 7 baby girls named Dwanna
  • 1936: 20 baby girls named Dwanna [debut]
  • 1935: unlisted
  • 1934: unlisted

Where did it come from?

A little girl who got hit by a train — and survived!

In October of 1933, a toddler named Dwanna Lee Newman — the daughter of Arvid and Tola Newman of Eureka, Utah — was struck by a train traveling at about 20 miles per hour.

The locomotive pilot knocked her 10 feet in the air, she alighted on the cross-ties exactly between the rails and the entire freight train passed over her. […] When picked up, she was found to be unconscious, but soon revived, and examination disclosed the fact that aside from a bump on forehead, she was uninjured.

Nearly three years later, in July of 1936, Dwanna’s story was featured in the nationally syndicated Ripley’s Believe It or Not newspaper panel.

Sadly, Dwanna died of pneumonia in late 1937, at the age of five. (Arvid and Tola went on to have two more children, daughters Linda Rae and Vicki Ann, in the 1940s.)

What are your thoughts on the baby name Dwanna?

P.S. Believe it or not, the weirdly similar name Dwala was also influenced by Believe It or Not…

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Daily Colonist (16 Jul. 1936)

Mystery baby names: Djuna and Djuana (Solved!)

Graph of the usage of the baby name Djuna in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Djuna

So far I’ve only posted about two mystery names, Laquita and Nerine. But there are plenty of others.

One of those others is Djuna, which was the most impressive girl-name debut in the U.S. baby name data in 1964:

  • 1966: 24 baby girls named Djuna
  • 1965: 32 baby girls named Djuna
  • 1964: 198 baby girls named Djuna [rank: 738th]
  • 1963: unlisted
  • 1962: unlisted

In fact, 198 was the highest debut number ever up to that point, and it remained the record-holder until Kizzy (inspired by Roots) came along with a whopping 1,115 baby girls in 1977.

And that’s not all. A bunch of similar names became more popular in 1964 as well:

1963196419651966
Djuna–198*3224
Djuana–1907735
Dwana17823937
Duana7291811
Dejuana–241113
Dewanna13242230
Dwanna10241012
Duanna–1066
Dujuana–10*5–
Djana–9*––
Duuna–9*––
Duwana–9*––
Djuan (f)–7*––
Dejuna–6*––
Duuana–6*––
Duwanna–6*––
Dywana–6*––
Djuanna–5*––
Dajuana––9*–
*Debut

(Djana, Duuna, Dejuna and Duuana were one-hit wonders.)

Where did these names come from?

I haven’t a clue. The very first Djuna seems to be writer Djuna Barnes (1892-1982), but I don’t think she made any headlines in the 1960s.

The name was also used in a bunch Ellery Queen novels, but that Djuna was a boy. (And the books were published in the ’40s and ’50s, mostly.)

Olympian Wilma Rudolph named her baby girl Djuana in mid-1964. This may have contributed to the surge in usage. But many (most?) of the Djunas and Djuanas I’ve seen so far were born during the first half of the year, so it can’t be the main cause.

So…I’m stumped.

Do you guys have any ideas?

UPDATE: We worked together to figure out that the answer was TV character Djuna Phrayne, who was featured on a single episode of the TV series Channing. Thank you, everyone!