Meaning: Its source is a Latin expression meaning "Jove's descendant."

Popularity: The name Ayana ranked 682nd in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 2285th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Though this name appears on the 1990 U.S. Census lists, it is used by only a small percentage of the general population.

Narrative: Some authorities prefer the meaning ''downy beard.'' However, this might have been understood as an attribute of Jove, the chief of the Greco-Roman gods.

The original form evolved into Julius, the Latin name of a Roman clan whose most famous member was the military and political leader Julius Caesar.