Darel
Darel was given to 52 boys in 2025, #2,542 among boys’ names; 2,173 Americans have been recorded with it since 1915 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,440 Americans named Darel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (66% of everyone recorded); the median is 55 years old and half are between 32 and 67.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Darel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Darel?
#2,542 among boys’ names, 2025
Darel rose from #8,184 in 2015 to #2,542 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 4.7 to 30.4 per million.
52 babies in 2025, the peak
Darel peaked in 2025, when 52 boys were given it, #2,542 among boys’ names. In 2024 it went to 14 boys.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 52 | #2,542 | 30.4 |
| 2024 | 14 | #6,249 | 8.1 |
| 2023 | 9 | #8,397 | 5.3 |
| 2022 | 7 | #10,039 | 4.0 |
| 2021 | 21 | #4,663 | 12.0 |
| 2020 | 13 | #6,371 | 7.5 |
| 2019 | 10 | #7,757 | 5.6 |
| 2018 | 10 | #7,732 | 5.5 |
| 2017 | 14 | #6,106 | 7.6 |
| 2016 | 10 | #7,715 | 5.3 |
Every recorded year (111)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 9 | #8,184 | 4.7 |
| 2014 | 5 | #12,484 | 2.6 |
| 2013 | 8 | #8,963 | 4.2 |
| 2012 | 14 | #6,060 | 7.4 |
| 2011 | 12 | #6,669 | 6.3 |
| 2010 | 12 | #6,766 | 6.3 |
| 2009 | 5 | #12,894 | 2.5 |
| 2008 | 8 | #9,167 | 3.9 |
| 2007 | 6 | #11,229 | 2.9 |
| 2006 | 12 | #6,545 | 5.8 |
| 2005 | 12 | #6,305 | 6.0 |
| 2004 | 9 | #7,666 | 4.5 |
| 2003 | 7 | #8,855 | 3.5 |
| 2002 | 9 | #7,157 | 4.6 |
| 2001 | 9 | #7,035 | 4.6 |
| 2000 | 9 | #6,947 | 4.6 |
| 1999 | 11 | #5,730 | 5.7 |
| 1998 | 12 | #5,208 | 6.3 |
| 1997 | 11 | #5,343 | 5.8 |
| 1996 | 8 | #6,631 | 4.2 |
| 1995 | 9 | #6,019 | 4.7 |
| 1994 | 16 | #3,945 | 8.3 |
| 1993 | 20 | #3,267 | 10.2 |
| 1992 | 21 | #3,126 | 10.5 |
| 1991 | 18 | #3,351 | 8.9 |
| 1990 | 23 | #2,795 | 11.2 |
| 1989 | 16 | #3,484 | 8.0 |
| 1988 | 12 | #3,957 | 6.3 |
| 1987 | 20 | #2,650 | 10.7 |
| 1986 | 13 | #3,478 | 7.1 |
| 1985 | 9 | #4,398 | 4.9 |
| 1984 | 12 | #3,500 | 6.6 |
| 1983 | 17 | #2,693 | 9.5 |
| 1982 | 15 | #2,995 | 8.3 |
| 1981 | 5 | #6,482 | 2.8 |
| 1980 | 18 | #2,635 | 10.1 |
| 1979 | 23 | #2,172 | 13.4 |
| 1978 | 15 | #2,819 | 9.1 |
| 1977 | 16 | #2,681 | 9.7 |
| 1976 | 16 | #2,628 | 10.2 |
| 1975 | 7 | #4,414 | 4.5 |
| 1974 | 19 | #2,208 | 12.1 |
| 1973 | 18 | #2,245 | 11.5 |
| 1972 | 25 | #1,780 | 15.4 |
| 1971 | 27 | #1,715 | 15.3 |
| 1970 | 29 | #1,584 | 15.6 |
| 1969 | 31 | #1,448 | 17.3 |
| 1968 | 33 | #1,344 | 19.0 |
| 1967 | 39 | #1,200 | 22.4 |
| 1966 | 38 | #1,220 | 21.3 |
| 1965 | 37 | #1,256 | 19.9 |
| 1964 | 38 | #1,264 | 19.1 |
| 1963 | 43 | #1,179 | 21.2 |
| 1962 | 38 | #1,259 | 18.4 |
| 1961 | 36 | #1,324 | 16.9 |
| 1960 | 34 | #1,365 | 15.9 |
| 1959 | 40 | #1,232 | 18.7 |
| 1958 | 37 | #1,264 | 17.4 |
| 1957 | 43 | #1,186 | 19.9 |
| 1956 | 44 | #1,141 | 20.8 |
| 1955 | 31 | #1,376 | 15.0 |
| 1954 | 42 | #1,155 | 20.6 |
| 1953 | 25 | #1,522 | 12.7 |
| 1952 | 32 | #1,326 | 16.5 |
| 1951 | 29 | #1,382 | 15.4 |
| 1950 | 29 | #1,342 | 16.2 |
| 1949 | 37 | #1,165 | 20.9 |
| 1948 | 40 | #1,129 | 22.8 |
| 1947 | 25 | #1,491 | 13.7 |
| 1946 | 28 | #1,332 | 17.2 |
| 1945 | 24 | #1,354 | 17.8 |
| 1944 | 23 | #1,405 | 16.9 |
| 1943 | 20 | #1,593 | 14.0 |
| 1942 | 22 | #1,503 | 15.9 |
| 1941 | 28 | #1,257 | 22.8 |
| 1940 | 39 | #1,034 | 33.6 |
| 1939 | 26 | #1,302 | 23.5 |
| 1938 | 31 | #1,176 | 27.9 |
| 1937 | 14 | #1,926 | 13.1 |
| 1936 | 27 | #1,274 | 26.0 |
| 1935 | 12 | #2,155 | 11.5 |
| 1934 | 19 | #1,618 | 18.4 |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,403 | 10.1 |
| 1932 | 14 | #2,019 | 13.4 |
| 1931 | 22 | #1,501 | 21.2 |
| 1930 | 17 | #1,835 | 15.5 |
| 1929 | 15 | #2,021 | 13.9 |
| 1928 | 19 | #1,774 | 17.2 |
| 1927 | 9 | #2,956 | 8.0 |
| 1926 | 19 | #1,806 | 17.1 |
| 1925 | 12 | #2,465 | 10.8 |
| 1924 | 16 | #2,065 | 14.1 |
| 1923 | 7 | #3,540 | 6.4 |
| 1922 | 15 | #2,161 | 13.8 |
| 1921 | 16 | #2,077 | 14.5 |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,013 | 8.5 |
| 1919 | 17 | #1,893 | 17.3 |
| 1918 | 10 | #2,731 | 9.9 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,296 | 7.6 |
| 1916 | 5 | #4,045 | 5.6 |
| 1915 | 8 | #2,874 | 9.4 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Darel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Darel has been given almost only to boys: 5 girls in 111 years of records.
Girls and boys named Darel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Darel, and how old are they?
1,440 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 66% of the 2,173 Americans ever recorded as Darel. The median Darel alive today is 55 years old; half are between 32 and 67.
The 2020 Census counted 1,569 people named Darel (67 women and girls, 1,502 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,464 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 82 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 449 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 341 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 227 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 155 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 181 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
How common is the spelling Darel?
Darel is a less common spelling of Darrell: SSA has recorded 2,173 Darel and 160,952 Darrell since 1880.
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 370,680 babies since 1880, Darel is the seventh most given (<1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 52 of their 1,483 babies (3.5%), the sixth most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Darel
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Darel and names like it
- Compare Darel and DarrellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sDarel peaked in 2025.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Darel since 1910.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Darel.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Darel alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.