Darnell
Darnell was given to 56 boys in 2025, #2,423 among boys’ names; 31,018 Americans have been recorded with it since 1912 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 26,800 Americans named Darnell and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (87% of everyone recorded); the median is 42 years old and half are between 31 and 56.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Darnell by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Darnell mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Darnell is “a male given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “type of ryegrass” (darnel).
English surname, from the noun darnel (“type of ryegrass”). Also a variant of Darnall. The given name is likely derived from the surname.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Darnell?
#2,423 among boys’ names, 2025
Darnell fell from #1,224 in 2015 to #2,423 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 78.3 to 32.8 per million.
770 babies in 1984, the peak
Darnell peaked in 1984, when 770 babies were given it (741 boys, #281 among boys’ names). The 56 births of 2025 are 7% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 56 | #2,423 | 0.03 |
| 2024 | 63 | #2,268 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 85 | #1,869 | 0.05 |
| 2022 | 95 | #1,756 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 102 | #1,636 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 99 | #1,623 | 0.06 |
| 2019 | 128 | #1,389 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 129 | #1,366 | 0.07 |
| 2017 | 150 | #1,224 | 0.08 |
| 2016 | 151 | #1,237 | 0.08 |
Every recorded year (113)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 150 | #1,224 | 0.08 |
| 2014 | 197 | #1,030 | 0.10 |
| 2013 | 191 | #1,023 | 0.10 |
| 2012 | 203 | #984 | 0.11 |
| 2011 | 238 | #878 | 0.13 |
| 2010 | 235 | #887 | 0.12 |
| 2009 | 284 | #791 | 0.14 |
| 2008 | 313 | #732 | 0.15 |
| 2007 | 325 | #713 | 0.16 |
| 2006 | 305 | #712 | 0.15 |
| 2005 | 289 | #707 | 0.14 |
| 2004 | 271 | #709 | 0.14 |
| 2003 | 291 | #672 | 0.15 |
| 2002 | 262 | #694 | 0.13 |
| 2001 | 264 | #682 | 0.14 |
| 2000 | 274 | #658 | 0.14 |
| 1999 | 313 | #599 | 0.16 |
| 1998 | 354 | #555 | 0.19 |
| 1997 | 354 | #552 | 0.19 |
| 1996 | 412 | #506 | 0.22 |
| 1995 | 395 | #515 | 0.21 |
| 1994 | 469 | #466 | 0.24 |
| 1993 | 443 | #477 | 0.23 |
| 1992 | 532 | #419 | 0.27 |
| 1991 | 564 | #404 | 0.28 |
| 1990 | 678 | #354 | 0.33 |
| 1989 | 656 | #350 | 0.33 |
| 1988 | 652 | #330 | 0.34 |
| 1987 | 688 | #309 | 0.37 |
| 1986 | 692 | #297 | 0.38 |
| 1985 | 674 | #305 | 0.36 |
| 1984 | 741 | #281 | 0.41 |
| 1983 | 644 | #306 | 0.36 |
| 1982 | 539 | #344 | 0.30 |
| 1981 | 492 | #358 | 0.27 |
| 1980 | 516 | #351 | 0.29 |
| 1979 | 495 | #355 | 0.29 |
| 1978 | 566 | #314 | 0.34 |
| 1977 | 518 | #346 | 0.32 |
| 1976 | 473 | #352 | 0.30 |
| 1975 | 456 | #361 | 0.29 |
| 1974 | 428 | #368 | 0.27 |
| 1973 | 468 | #357 | 0.30 |
| 1972 | 468 | #359 | 0.29 |
| 1971 | 473 | #369 | 0.27 |
| 1970 | 483 | #371 | 0.26 |
| 1969 | 439 | #374 | 0.25 |
| 1968 | 385 | #398 | 0.22 |
| 1967 | 390 | #382 | 0.22 |
| 1966 | 353 | #400 | 0.20 |
| 1965 | 339 | #422 | 0.18 |
| 1964 | 385 | #410 | 0.19 |
| 1963 | 361 | #422 | 0.18 |
| 1962 | 354 | #425 | 0.17 |
| 1961 | 355 | #422 | 0.17 |
| 1960 | 328 | #445 | 0.15 |
| 1959 | 358 | #418 | 0.17 |
| 1958 | 392 | #394 | 0.18 |
| 1957 | 346 | #418 | 0.16 |
| 1956 | 307 | #432 | 0.15 |
| 1955 | 337 | #394 | 0.16 |
| 1954 | 291 | #419 | 0.14 |
| 1953 | 273 | #425 | 0.14 |
| 1952 | 274 | #417 | 0.14 |
| 1951 | 215 | #463 | 0.11 |
| 1950 | 176 | #503 | 0.10 |
| 1949 | 118 | #628 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 109 | #648 | 0.06 |
| 1947 | 65 | #860 | 0.04 |
| 1946 | 74 | #774 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 56 | #840 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 52 | #880 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 42 | #1,037 | 0.03 |
| 1942 | 36 | #1,143 | 0.03 |
| 1941 | 46 | #941 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 35 | #1,111 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 42 | #980 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 35 | #1,098 | 0.03 |
| 1937 | 35 | #1,100 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 24 | #1,365 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 33 | #1,148 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 29 | #1,247 | 0.03 |
| 1933 | 30 | #1,209 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 16 | #1,863 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 28 | #1,311 | 0.03 |
| 1930 | 22 | #1,570 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 19 | #1,746 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 20 | #1,721 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 18 | #1,888 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 23 | #1,576 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 19 | #1,818 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 30 | #1,361 | 0.03 |
| 1923 | 15 | #2,144 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 25 | #1,516 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,171 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 13 | #2,357 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,539 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 10 | #2,732 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 9 | #2,781 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 6 | #3,591 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 13 | #2,093 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 5 | #2,919 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 9 | #1,773 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Darnell a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 31,018 Americans recorded as Darnell, 8% are girls and 92% boys. In 2025 it went to 56 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Darnell: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Darnell, and how old are they?
26,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 87% of the 31,018 Americans ever recorded as Darnell. The median Darnell alive today is 42 years old; half are between 31 and 56.
The 2020 Census counted 20,319 people named Darnell (1,585 women and girls, 18,734 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 27,420 born in the U.S. The Census count is 26% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 262 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,420 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 7,040 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 9,020 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,510 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,590 |
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).
Where are babies named Darnell born?
The states with the most babies named Darnell are Illinois, New York and California, with 31% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 2,940 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| New York | 2,766 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| California | 2,186 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Michigan | 1,991 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,905 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Ohio | 1,773 | #1,317 | 1.2× |
| New Jersey | 1,323 | #1,061 | 1.4× |
| Louisiana | 1,250 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Maryland | 1,101 | not ranked | 2.1× |
| Florida | 847 | not ranked | 0.7× |
Where Darnell is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Darnell is most over-represented in District of Columbia: since 1912 it was given 4.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Darnell with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 32,232 babies since 1880, Darnell is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 56 of their 62 babies (90%), again the most given.
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 Darnell
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 Darnell and names like it
- Compare Darnell and DarnelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sDarnell peaked in 1984.
- Illinois’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Darnell since 1910.
- The top names of 1984The year the most babies were named Darnell.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Darnell alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with DMost given first.