Daija
Meaning of Daija
Daija is a feminine given name of modern American coinage, broadly understood as an inventive variant of the French-derived déjà—literally “already”—and enriched by African American naming traditions that prize phonetic originality and rhythmic grace. Its phonological composition, featuring the voiced affricate /ʒ/ and the open front vowel /eɪ/, yields a gentle, liquid resonance that cascades like a measured melody through each syllable, while the final -a evokes the classical femininity of Latin morphology. First appearing in U.S. birth records during the late 1980s, Daija achieved its greatest frequency—176 newborns, rank 727—in 2002, before undergoing a gradual descent into the lower mid-range of the Social Security Administration’s annual rankings, reaching ten occurrences (rank 940) in 2024. This trajectory mirrors broader shifts toward names that balance uniqueness with a nod to Romance-language sonority. In sociolinguistic terms, Daija’s rise and stabilization illustrate the interplay between cultural identity, phonetic appeal, and the desire for names that confer both individual distinction and a subtle homage to Latin-rooted elegance.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as DAY-jah (/'deɪ.ʒə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
