Lana

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Elena in AR Argentina, MX Mexico, ES Spain and 5 more, Елена in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, BG Bulgaria and 1 more, Helen in US United States, AU Australia, PH Philippines and 1 more and Helena in BR Brazil, PL Poland, NL Netherlands.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Lana is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name348K records spelled Lana16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Argentina, Mexico

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Lâna, Länä, Lanã, Lãnã, Láná

• French given name138K records spelled Lana28 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Lane, L'Âne, L'Ane, Lané, Lâne

• Arabic given name25K records spelled Lana6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Syria, United States, Israel, Egypt

  Languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Amharic

  Also written לנא, Laná, Lãna

• a separate given name21K records spelled Lana5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India

  Also written Lānā, Lâna, Laña, Lána

• Hungarian given name13K records spelled Lana18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Slovenia, United States, Hungary, Finland

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Lane, Läne, Ćj, Lânä, Cj

• Indonesian given name7.4K records spelled Lana7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Syria

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Laña, 'Lana, Cj, Lâna, Lanã

• Hindi given name6.9K records spelled Lana7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Syria

  Languages: Hindi, Sinhala, Urdu

  Also written Laña, Làna, Lanä, Ĺänâ

• Swahili given name3.7K records spelled Lana4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, South Africa, Syria, United Kingdom

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Laña

64 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Lana is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• from lana ‘wool’, probably a metonymic occupational name for a wool merchant.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• Especially North American: of uncertain origin. If not simply an invention, it may have been devised as a feminine equivalent of Alan (of which it is an anagram), or a shortened form of ) Alana. It seems to have been first used by the film actress Lana Turner (b. 1920}, whose original name was Julia.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, The tree Genipa americana.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Serbo-Croatian, genitive singular of lan

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Variante d’Hélène; origine grecque, signifie « éclat du soleil ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 136 years between 1885–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Lana Laneb. 1901USAmerican rock singer
• Lana Turnerb. 1921USAmerican actress (1921–1995)
• Lana Woodb. 1946USAmerican actress
• Lana Clarksonb. 1962USactress and fashion model from the United States (1962–2003)
• MC Lyteb. 1970USnot in their usual nameAmerican rapper
• Lana Parrillab. 1977USAmerican actress
• Lana Canepab. 1986BRBrazilian journalist
• Lana Gehringb. 1990USAmerican short track speed skater
• Lana Rhoadesb. 1996USAmerican internet personality, podcaster and former pornographic film actress
• Lana Condorb. 1997USVietnamese-American actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,096 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Lana?

We estimate roughly 2.3 million people bear Lana (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Lana have the most bearers?

Lana is most frequently recorded in Russia, where it is most often spelled елена.

How common is Lana compared with other names?

In Russia, Lana is the 2nd most common given name of 418,751 given names recorded there.

Is Lana a male or female name?

Lana is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Lana mean?

Recorded meaning: Short modern form used in several languages; often from Slavic Svetlana or as a diminutive of Helena.