Lana shimmers with all the Hollywood glamour of Ava, but this name owes its recent success to the small screen.
Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
Lana: The Nora-Nina-Lisa Club
File this name with Nora, Nina, and Lisa.
It started out as a short form of Alana, Milana, Svetlana, and any other name ending with the same four letters. In some cases, nickname names always feel like they’re short for something – even when they’re not. (Hello, Ellie!) But certain names – call them the Nora-Nina-Lisa Club – stand on their own.
Lana: Turner
Julia Jean Turner skipped school to sip a Coke at a drug store on Sunset Boulevard, and it changed her life forever. As fate would have it, the publisher of the Hollywood Reporter spotted the sixteen year old high schooler, and referred her to a talent agent.
She filmed her first movie in 1937, and rocketed to fame.
Scandal and drama followed, but so did professional success. The young Miss Turner graduated from pin-up to serious actor, with roles in The Postman Always Rings Twice, Peyton Place, and Imitation of Life.
As for her stage name, it appears the young Turner chose it herself.
While the name occasionally appeared in the US Top 1000 in the nineteenth century, the star brought the name back into the spotlight.
In 1939, Lana re-entered the charts at #732. A year later, it leapt to #306 and peaked at #188 in 1948.
Lana: Smallville
A 1940s favorite makes an unlikely revival for 2001. But that’s exactly what happened. Lana returned to the US Top 1000 after several years’ absence.
Parents embraced other Hollywood legend names for girls in the early twenty-first century. Ava and Audrey were racing up the charts.
The name also fit with popular choices like Hannah, a Top Ten favorite in 2001, and our love of all L names was just beginning, too.
But chances are that Superman gets the credit.
Lana Lang debuted in the Superman comics back in 1950, a romantic interest for the Man of Steel. Miss Lang hailed from Clark Kent’s hometown, and became a rival to Lois Lane.
Naturally, Superman prequel Smallville included Lang in the cast from the very first episode. The year? 2001.
Lana: Beyond Smallville
Smallville left the air in 2011. By then, the name had returned the Top 500. It’s continued to climb since then.
Besides the Hollywood legend and the Smallville character, you might also think of Lana Wood, sister to Natalie and most famous as a Bond girl, along with a handful of other fictional characters, song lyrics, and international figures. The name appears in the Croatian and Slovenian Top Tens.
But perhaps the reason the name remains in the spotlight is signer Lana Del Rey, who released her first album in 2010. Miss Del Rey borrowed her stage name from the legendary actress.
Or maybe it is Archer’s character by the name, a spy voiced by Aisha Tyler beginning in 2009.
Whether it’s the singer or the secret agent, this name remains a surprising revival choice, ahead of its time. It makes a good option for parents after something familiar, but not too popular, sophisticated but not too elaborate. Lana feels as nickname-proof as Emma, as feminine as Sophia. And if you’re crushed that Ella and Mila rank in the Top 100, Lana might offer a substitute.
What do you think of Lana?
This post was published on March 27, 2009. Following substantial revision, it was reposted on December 5, 2016.
Another glamour girl Lana was British actress Lana Morris, who first came to prominence in the 1950s (real name Pamela Matthews). Older American readers might remember her as Helene in the British “Forsyte Saga” series that aired on PBS in the very early ’70s.
Lana is not in fact a traditional diminutive of Svetlana in Russia, where Sveta and such offshoots are used. But it has become popular with Russian Svetlanas living in the West.
I think it’s a really beautiful name.
Lana, Anna, and Fontana are the “mean girls” in The Princess Diaries.
That’s right! LOVE that movie – I think Clio is just about old enough for it, too …
Love love love this name. It doesn’t hurt that it’s short and simple (my favorite type of name) and that I knew a Lana growing up who was (and is) one of the most intelligent, gifted, and beautiful young ladies I have ever known.
The trend of reversing names for meaning (e.g. Nevaeh) rules Lana out for me. Just spell it backwards. Lana sounds pretty, but is something I would only use as a nickname.
I really like Lana a lot. It’s a lovely name; I like it’s slightly slavic feel. It’s simple, pretty; it’s a nice name. I had never ever turned it around, as Lola mentions…. and that is kind of tragic. But hopefully that would be beyond the cruel creativity of school children. I’d still “risk” it with Lana… but then, I kind of like the longer names for which Lana would be a fantastic nickname… and you get away from any of the aforementioned unpleasantries with that.
If our Australian Top 100 lists expanded to Top 1000 names each year, I have no doubt that Lana would be up there – probably around the 300ish mark, I’d guess. She’s a fairly common fixture here, and she’s become rather bland to me. She feels the same as Mia or Eliza – both of which I don’t like, but can’t find an actual reason for!
The Top 100 for my state does feature Hannah (#16), Alannah (#79) & Milla (#80- close enough to Milana), as well as Ava (#6), Natalie (#60), & Audrey (#82), so maybe she’ll make her mark soon! I can’t look up her popularity, because the site’s ‘undergoing maintenance’ pfft 🙂
I like Lana. I’m surprised it left the charts at all – but also surprised that it’s been rising. I thought it was entirely off the radar. I’m in search of the perfect name – one that’s pretty, that’s familiar, yet not heard every day – and I think this one, like Nora (and Ava and Emma 10 years ago) fits for me.
Would you add these names to your NotD list if you haven’t already gone over them, please? Louisa, Luke, and Dominic -Thanks!
I want to like Lana, really I do. Lana packs a serious punch in four little letters. Thanks to Superman’s first love & Turner, it’s got quite a bit of Va-va-voom too. But Lana, sadly is one I always see funny. I end up turning Lana around when I first see her and that’s not cool. So Lana’s not for me but of Superman’s assorted loves, Lyla (Lila) & Larissa both intrigue me. (What IS it with Superman and all those L’s?) Here’s the 15 most Superman freaks know about: https://comiccoverage.typepad.com/comic_coverage/2008/02/to-all-the-girl.html
Illena was evil but it’s got a pretty sound. And did anyone else know Lana Lang was a redhead originally? I was surprised but Ken said “Yeah, she was”. Weird. Learn something new everyday, hmm?
So Lana’s pretty but so very not for me!
I love Lana, both as a nickname for Svetlana and Alana and as its own name. It’s pretty, and Eric and I both like the Russian feel to it. I loved Lana’s character in Strong Medicine too.
How about Kazu/Kazuma, Akira, Miyoko (my little cousin’s name), Hana, Matteo, and Seren/Serena as NOTD’s? Those are some of my favorite names.
Lana is pretty, but I think it does feel a little too Eastern European for me to want to use personally. I tend to go for those thoroughly British names.
I agree that it has an exotic, glamorous vibe — but at the same time, it feels a bit bland, maybe because it sounds similar to so many other names (like Lena, Lina, Lara, Elena, Alana, etc.). Perhaps that’s part of its appeal, though — it seems simple, adaptable, and sure to fit in anywhere.