| Anika | Diya | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | brilliance, splendour; epithet of Durga | Lamp, light |
| Origin | sanskrit | sanskrit |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | uh-NEE-kah | DEE-yuh |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1961 | 1991 |
| Peak year | 2006 (642) | 2009 (309) |
| In 2025 | 269 | 119 |
| Trend | Declining | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Anika | Diya |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,895 | 789 |
| 2010s | 5,038 | 2,313 |
| 2000s | 5,591 | 1,916 |
| 1990s | 2,083 | 61 |
| 1980s | 949 | 0 |
| 1970s | 1,222 | 0 |
| 1960s | 26 | 0 |
From Sanskrit anika (अनीक), 'splendour, brilliance; also a battle array or army'; used as an epithet of Goddess Durga. Cross-cultural: Anika is independently a Germanic/Scandinavian diminutive of Anna.
From the Hindi दीया (diyā), 'an oil lamp', descended from the Sanskrit dīpa ('lamp, light'). A genuine, everyday Hindi word evoking the lamps of Diwali.
Anika is more popular than Diya today: about 269 US babies were given the name Anika in 2025, compared with 119 named Diya.
Anika means brilliance, splendour; epithet of Durga (sanskrit origin), while Diya means Lamp, light (sanskrit origin).
In US records, Anika first appears in 1961 and Diya in 1991, so Anika has the longer recorded history.