Dekani was first attested in written sources in 1328 as Decani. The name is derived from the noble familyde Cani. Locally, the name was misunderstood as derived from Italiancane 'dog', leading to the local designation Pasja vas, the demonymPesjan, and the associated adjective pesjanski. Another theory, according to Salvator Žitko of the University of Koper, is that the settlement got its name after its owner, the Albanian nobleman Giovanni Dukagjini, in 1480 based on the Venetian archives of the city of Koper.