Danae as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Danae

What is the meaning of the name Danae ?

The baby name Danae is a Female name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced duh-NAY-ee (IPA: /dəˈneɪ.i/).

Danae is Greek in Origin.

Danae is the Anglicized form of Ancient Greek Δανάη (Danaē), name of the Argive princess and mother of Perseus in Greek myth. Its etymology is uncertain: scholars have linked it either to the Homeric ethnonym Δαναοί (Danaoi, “Danaans,” meaning “Greeks”) or to a pre‑Greek root meaning “parched, dry.” Accordingly, Danae is often interpreted as “of the Danaans” or “parched.”

Classical literature (Pindar, Apollodorus, Ovid) and Renaissance–Baroque art - most famously Titian’s series - kept the name culturally prominent, and it entered steady given‑name use in the 19th–20th centuries, especially in Greece, later spreading to the English‑speaking world and Latin America. Variants and regional forms include Danaë (French, Dutch), Dánae/Danae (Spanish), Danai (modern Greek), and Danea (Italian, rare). Informal short forms sometimes use Dana or Dani, though those have independent origins.