Danu

Speculative name for the mother goddess of the Continental Celts based on the evidence of place-names, e.g. Danube (L Dānuvius; Hungarian Duna; German Donau); also a variant for the Irish Ana (a prosthetic d-= Ana) and linked to the Welsh Dôn. Other goddesses named Danu appear as far afield as Russia and India; in India's Rig-Veda the name of the goddess Danu signifies ‘stream’ and ‘the waters of heaven’.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: (Irish) mother of the Tuatha De Danann; identified with the Welsh Don
  Synonym: Dana

The name Danu can mean:

• Danu (Irish goddess)
• Danu (Hindu goddess)
• Danu people, an ethnic group in Myanmar
• An ancient Scythian word meaning river. The commonly proposed etymology of the names of the Dnieper River, Dniester River, Donets River and Don River
• Danu, Glodeni, a commune in Glodeni district, Moldova
• Danu, the fictitious island setting of Timothy Mo's novel, The Redundancy of Courage based on the real-life nation of East Timor
• Danú, an Irish folk music group
• Doclean Academy of Sciences and Arts, with the native acronym DANU

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