Darrel
Darrel was given to 17 boys in 2025, #5,433 among boys’ names; 29,892 Americans have been recorded with it since 1900 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 17,500 Americans named Darrel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (59% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 49 and 72.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Darrel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Darrel?
#5,433 among boys’ names, 2025
Darrel fell from #3,602 in 2015 to #5,433 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 15.7 to 10.0 per million.
664 babies in 1960, the peak
Darrel peaked in 1960, when 664 babies were given it (659 boys, #302 among boys’ names). The 17 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17 | #5,433 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 18 | #5,278 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 18 | #5,290 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 20 | #4,884 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 37 | #3,195 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 21 | #4,567 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 28 | #3,815 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 29 | #3,721 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 19 | #4,974 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 22 | #4,503 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (124)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 30 | #3,602 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 48 | #2,547 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 40 | #2,858 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 35 | #3,185 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 43 | #2,762 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 34 | #3,256 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 42 | #2,856 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 47 | #2,637 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 42 | #2,827 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 57 | #2,227 | 0.03 |
| 2005 | 63 | #1,986 | 0.03 |
| 2004 | 42 | #2,573 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 55 | #2,056 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 49 | #2,159 | 0.03 |
| 2001 | 70 | #1,657 | 0.04 |
| 2000 | 71 | #1,639 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 75 | #1,506 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 75 | #1,478 | 0.04 |
| 1997 | 97 | #1,212 | 0.05 |
| 1996 | 86 | #1,277 | 0.05 |
| 1995 | 84 | #1,271 | 0.04 |
| 1994 | 94 | #1,177 | 0.05 |
| 1993 | 144 | #887 | 0.07 |
| 1992 | 130 | #934 | 0.07 |
| 1991 | 178 | #765 | 0.09 |
| 1990 | 173 | #770 | 0.08 |
| 1989 | 191 | #711 | 0.10 |
| 1988 | 185 | #690 | 0.10 |
| 1987 | 213 | #626 | 0.11 |
| 1986 | 179 | #670 | 0.10 |
| 1985 | 173 | #675 | 0.09 |
| 1984 | 175 | #653 | 0.10 |
| 1983 | 181 | #636 | 0.10 |
| 1982 | 174 | #661 | 0.10 |
| 1981 | 188 | #624 | 0.10 |
| 1980 | 203 | #616 | 0.11 |
| 1979 | 223 | #572 | 0.13 |
| 1978 | 205 | #587 | 0.12 |
| 1977 | 204 | #590 | 0.12 |
| 1976 | 209 | #556 | 0.13 |
| 1975 | 217 | #547 | 0.14 |
| 1974 | 252 | #500 | 0.16 |
| 1973 | 261 | #485 | 0.17 |
| 1972 | 343 | #428 | 0.21 |
| 1971 | 352 | #434 | 0.20 |
| 1970 | 392 | #413 | 0.21 |
| 1969 | 401 | #396 | 0.22 |
| 1968 | 486 | #352 | 0.28 |
| 1967 | 483 | #343 | 0.28 |
| 1966 | 507 | #335 | 0.28 |
| 1965 | 499 | #339 | 0.27 |
| 1964 | 596 | #319 | 0.30 |
| 1963 | 585 | #326 | 0.29 |
| 1962 | 637 | #308 | 0.31 |
| 1961 | 646 | #305 | 0.30 |
| 1960 | 659 | #302 | 0.31 |
| 1959 | 645 | #305 | 0.30 |
| 1958 | 627 | #302 | 0.30 |
| 1957 | 641 | #297 | 0.30 |
| 1956 | 629 | #294 | 0.30 |
| 1955 | 608 | #292 | 0.30 |
| 1954 | 609 | #286 | 0.30 |
| 1953 | 562 | #297 | 0.28 |
| 1952 | 581 | #291 | 0.30 |
| 1951 | 603 | #275 | 0.32 |
| 1950 | 530 | #295 | 0.30 |
| 1949 | 597 | #271 | 0.34 |
| 1948 | 564 | #283 | 0.32 |
| 1947 | 651 | #263 | 0.36 |
| 1946 | 568 | #264 | 0.35 |
| 1945 | 431 | #288 | 0.32 |
| 1944 | 469 | #274 | 0.34 |
| 1943 | 503 | #271 | 0.35 |
| 1942 | 526 | #251 | 0.38 |
| 1941 | 492 | #251 | 0.40 |
| 1940 | 474 | #252 | 0.41 |
| 1939 | 475 | #243 | 0.43 |
| 1938 | 467 | #252 | 0.42 |
| 1937 | 375 | #280 | 0.35 |
| 1936 | 408 | #267 | 0.39 |
| 1935 | 414 | #266 | 0.40 |
| 1934 | 358 | #286 | 0.35 |
| 1933 | 330 | #292 | 0.33 |
| 1932 | 338 | #302 | 0.32 |
| 1931 | 304 | #310 | 0.29 |
| 1930 | 265 | #346 | 0.24 |
| 1929 | 249 | #358 | 0.23 |
| 1928 | 244 | #372 | 0.22 |
| 1927 | 219 | #407 | 0.19 |
| 1926 | 215 | #407 | 0.19 |
| 1925 | 182 | #446 | 0.16 |
| 1924 | 206 | #424 | 0.18 |
| 1923 | 145 | #509 | 0.13 |
| 1922 | 151 | #503 | 0.14 |
| 1921 | 144 | #515 | 0.13 |
| 1920 | 143 | #510 | 0.13 |
| 1919 | 108 | #577 | 0.11 |
| 1918 | 105 | #596 | 0.10 |
| 1917 | 85 | #645 | 0.09 |
| 1916 | 92 | #608 | 0.10 |
| 1915 | 86 | #624 | 0.10 |
| 1914 | 42 | #825 | 0.06 |
| 1913 | 32 | #859 | 0.06 |
| 1912 | 42 | #650 | 0.10 |
| 1911 | 12 | #996 | 0.05 |
| 1910 | 8 | #1,226 | 0.04 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,503 | 0.03 |
| 1908 | 8 | #1,037 | 0.05 |
| 1907 | 13 | #748 | 0.09 |
| 1906 | 8 | #944 | 0.06 |
| 1905 | 11 | #752 | 0.08 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,038 | 0.05 |
| 1901 | 5 | #1,088 | 0.05 |
| 1900 | 7 | #1,069 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Darrel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Darrel has been given almost only to boys: 123 girls in 124 years of records.
Girls and boys named Darrel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Darrel, and how old are they?
17,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 59% of the 29,892 Americans ever recorded as Darrel. The median Darrel alive today is 63 years old; half are between 49 and 72.
The 2020 Census counted 18,962 people named Darrel (106 women and girls, 18,856 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 19,831 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,580 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 7,690 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,590 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,410 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 881 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 344 |
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 Darrel born?
The states with the most babies named Darrel are California, Texas and Illinois, with 20% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 2,291 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Texas | 1,463 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 1,353 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 1,247 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Minnesota | 1,198 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Kansas | 1,179 | not ranked | 3.2× |
| Missouri | 1,146 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Louisiana | 1,028 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| Michigan | 985 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Iowa | 973 | not ranked | 1.9× |
Where Darrel is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Darrel is most over-represented in South Dakota: since 1910 it was given 3.5 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 Darrel with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
How common is the spelling Darrel?
Darrel is a less common spelling of Darrell: SSA has recorded 29,892 Darrel and 160,952 Darrell since 1880.
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 370,680 babies since 1880, Darrel is the fourth most given (8.1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 17 of their 1,483 babies (1.1%), the seventh 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 Darrel
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 Darrel and names like it
- Compare Darrel and DarrellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sDarrel peaked in 1960.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Darrel since 1910.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Darrel.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Darrel alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.