Darrell
Darrell was given to 97 boys in 2025, #1,691 among boys’ names; 160,952 Americans have been recorded with it since 1886 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 111,000 Americans named Darrell and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (69% of everyone recorded); the median is 60 years old and half are between 47 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Darrell by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Darrell mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Darrell is “a male given name transferred from the surname in the 19th century.”
Derived from d’Airel, name of a Norman family that came from a place called Airelle in Calvados.
/ˈdæɹɪɫ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Darrell?
#1,691 among boys’ names, 2025
Darrell fell from #935 in 2015 to #1,691 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.12 to 0.06 per 1,000.
4,797 babies in 1958, the peak
Darrell peaked in 1958, when 4,797 babies were given it (4,771 boys, #90 among boys’ names). The 97 births of 2025 are 2% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 97 | #1,691 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 124 | #1,461 | 0.07 |
| 2023 | 110 | #1,580 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 127 | #1,433 | 0.07 |
| 2021 | 130 | #1,410 | 0.07 |
| 2020 | 147 | #1,255 | 0.09 |
| 2019 | 170 | #1,144 | 0.09 |
| 2018 | 189 | #1,067 | 0.10 |
| 2017 | 240 | #895 | 0.13 |
| 2016 | 236 | #911 | 0.12 |
Every recorded year (136)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 226 | #935 | 0.12 |
| 2014 | 259 | #856 | 0.13 |
| 2013 | 286 | #789 | 0.15 |
| 2012 | 288 | #786 | 0.15 |
| 2011 | 338 | #690 | 0.18 |
| 2010 | 304 | #747 | 0.16 |
| 2009 | 317 | #736 | 0.16 |
| 2008 | 388 | #634 | 0.19 |
| 2007 | 416 | #605 | 0.20 |
| 2006 | 415 | #592 | 0.20 |
| 2005 | 405 | #575 | 0.20 |
| 2004 | 410 | #559 | 0.21 |
| 2003 | 400 | #561 | 0.20 |
| 2002 | 405 | #547 | 0.21 |
| 2001 | 453 | #505 | 0.23 |
| 2000 | 499 | #470 | 0.25 |
| 1999 | 545 | #429 | 0.28 |
| 1998 | 533 | #432 | 0.28 |
| 1997 | 556 | #415 | 0.29 |
| 1996 | 609 | #383 | 0.32 |
| 1995 | 628 | #378 | 0.33 |
| 1994 | 746 | #332 | 0.39 |
| 1993 | 876 | #310 | 0.45 |
| 1992 | 915 | #294 | 0.46 |
| 1991 | 1,020 | #266 | 0.50 |
| 1990 | 1,128 | #246 | 0.55 |
| 1989 | 1,206 | #225 | 0.60 |
| 1988 | 1,214 | #216 | 0.63 |
| 1987 | 1,232 | #205 | 0.66 |
| 1986 | 1,308 | #196 | 0.71 |
| 1985 | 1,324 | #190 | 0.72 |
| 1984 | 1,335 | #187 | 0.74 |
| 1983 | 1,332 | #188 | 0.74 |
| 1982 | 1,389 | #182 | 0.77 |
| 1981 | 1,361 | #184 | 0.76 |
| 1980 | 1,461 | #168 | 0.82 |
| 1979 | 1,527 | #162 | 0.89 |
| 1978 | 1,466 | #165 | 0.89 |
| 1977 | 1,656 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1976 | 1,659 | #150 | 1.1 |
| 1975 | 1,672 | #147 | 1.1 |
| 1974 | 1,840 | #137 | 1.2 |
| 1973 | 1,977 | #131 | 1.3 |
| 1972 | 2,313 | #122 | 1.4 |
| 1971 | 2,814 | #118 | 1.6 |
| 1970 | 3,148 | #102 | 1.7 |
| 1969 | 3,249 | #93 | 1.8 |
| 1968 | 3,446 | #86 | 2.0 |
| 1967 | 3,652 | #86 | 2.1 |
| 1966 | 3,497 | #95 | 2.0 |
| 1965 | 3,888 | #91 | 2.1 |
| 1964 | 3,968 | #96 | 2.0 |
| 1963 | 4,097 | #95 | 2.0 |
| 1962 | 3,877 | #102 | 1.9 |
| 1961 | 4,203 | #101 | 2.0 |
| 1960 | 4,148 | #104 | 1.9 |
| 1959 | 4,647 | #90 | 2.2 |
| 1958 | 4,771 | #90 | 2.2 |
| 1957 | 4,570 | #90 | 2.1 |
| 1956 | 4,468 | #88 | 2.1 |
| 1955 | 3,902 | #91 | 1.9 |
| 1954 | 3,643 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 1953 | 3,149 | #103 | 1.6 |
| 1952 | 2,868 | #109 | 1.5 |
| 1951 | 2,746 | #109 | 1.5 |
| 1950 | 2,493 | #116 | 1.4 |
| 1949 | 2,517 | #117 | 1.4 |
| 1948 | 2,336 | #121 | 1.3 |
| 1947 | 2,285 | #125 | 1.2 |
| 1946 | 1,905 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1945 | 1,522 | #141 | 1.1 |
| 1944 | 1,580 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1943 | 1,529 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1942 | 1,591 | #135 | 1.2 |
| 1941 | 1,530 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1940 | 1,430 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1939 | 1,340 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1938 | 1,356 | #128 | 1.2 |
| 1937 | 1,260 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1936 | 1,208 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1935 | 1,153 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1934 | 1,129 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1933 | 1,026 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1932 | 992 | #154 | 1.0 |
| 1931 | 834 | #167 | 0.80 |
| 1930 | 828 | #173 | 0.75 |
| 1929 | 698 | #194 | 0.65 |
| 1928 | 647 | #210 | 0.58 |
| 1927 | 603 | #223 | 0.54 |
| 1926 | 578 | #231 | 0.52 |
| 1925 | 523 | #248 | 0.47 |
| 1924 | 509 | #255 | 0.45 |
| 1923 | 462 | #262 | 0.42 |
| 1922 | 379 | #290 | 0.35 |
| 1921 | 370 | #293 | 0.34 |
| 1920 | 359 | #298 | 0.34 |
| 1919 | 291 | #332 | 0.30 |
| 1918 | 250 | #373 | 0.25 |
| 1917 | 241 | #360 | 0.26 |
| 1916 | 222 | #365 | 0.25 |
| 1915 | 231 | #352 | 0.27 |
| 1914 | 130 | #421 | 0.20 |
| 1913 | 116 | #397 | 0.23 |
| 1912 | 94 | #397 | 0.22 |
| 1911 | 38 | #471 | 0.17 |
| 1910 | 29 | #526 | 0.15 |
| 1909 | 15 | #726 | 0.09 |
| 1908 | 18 | #615 | 0.12 |
| 1907 | 23 | #488 | 0.16 |
| 1906 | 14 | #651 | 0.11 |
| 1905 | 11 | #753 | 0.08 |
| 1904 | 9 | #822 | 0.07 |
| 1903 | 8 | #858 | 0.07 |
| 1902 | 11 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1901 | 7 | #874 | 0.07 |
| 1900 | 9 | #918 | 0.06 |
| 1899 | 8 | #798 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 14 | #581 | 0.11 |
| 1897 | 10 | #690 | 0.09 |
| 1896 | 6 | #1,007 | 0.05 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,118 | 0.04 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,120 | 0.04 |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,074 | 0.04 |
| 1891 | 6 | #868 | 0.06 |
| 1890 | 5 | #1,038 | 0.05 |
| 1886 | 5 | #1,001 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Darrell a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Darrell has been given almost only to boys: 1,186 girls in 136 years of records.
Girls and boys named Darrell: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Darrell, and how old are they?
111,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 69% of the 160,952 Americans ever recorded as Darrell. The median Darrell alive today is 60 years old; half are between 47 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 103,236 people named Darrell (427 women and girls, 102,809 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 121,299 born in the U.S. The Census count is 15% 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 | 4,960 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 45,700 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 34,500 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 16,800 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 6,570 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,320 |
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 Darrell born?
The states with the most babies named Darrell are Texas, California and Illinois, with 21% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 12,908 | #2,132 | 1.2× |
| California | 11,329 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 8,115 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 7,785 | #1,039 | 0.9× |
| Kentucky | 6,076 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Missouri | 5,669 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| North Carolina | 5,590 | #1,315 | 1.2× |
| Indiana | 5,434 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Michigan | 5,389 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Tennessee | 5,287 | not ranked | 1.5× |
Where Darrell is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Darrell is most over-represented in Kentucky: since 1910 it was given 1.9 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 Darrell 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 8 names spelled alike, given to 370,540 babies since 1880, Darrell is the most given (43% of them). In 2025 it was given to 97 of their 1,483 babies (6.5%), the third 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 Darrell
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 Darrell and names like it
- Compare Darrell and DarrylBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sDarrell peaked in 1958.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Darrell since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Darrell: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1958The year the most babies were named Darrell.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Darrell alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.