| Danica | Zora | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Morning star | Dawn |
| Origin | slavic | Slavic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | DAH-nee-kah | ZOR-ah |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1916 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 2007 (1,109) | 2019 (353) |
| In 2025 | 127 | 264 |
| Trend | Declining | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Danica | Zora |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,019 | 1,845 |
| 2010s | 4,591 | 1,662 |
| 2000s | 5,244 | 877 |
| 1990s | 2,382 | 176 |
| 1980s | 1,893 | 63 |
| 1970s | 1,051 | 93 |
| 1960s | 290 | 132 |
| 1950s | 42 | 290 |
| 1940s | 0 | 435 |
| 1930s | 0 | 651 |
| 1920s | 0 | 1,103 |
| 1910s | 10 | 1,155 |
| 1900s | 0 | 679 |
| 1890s | 0 | 626 |
| 1880s | 0 | 415 |
A South Slavic name meaning 'morning star', the personification of the planet Venus at dawn in Slavic folklore. The root is debated between a word for 'day/dawn' and related forms, but the 'morning star' sense is consistent across sources.
Zora means “dawn” or “daybreak” in the Slavic languages.
Zora is more popular than Danica today: about 264 US babies were given the name Zora in 2025, compared with 127 named Danica.
Danica means Morning star (slavic origin), while Zora means Dawn (Slavic origin).
In US records, Danica first appears in 1916 and Zora in 1880, so Zora has the longer recorded history.