Darah
An Arabic feminine name meaning "blood" or "precious thing".
Name Census estimates that about 1,005 living Americans carry the first name Darah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Darah today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darah births was 1988 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Darah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 341,049 Americans
Peak year
1988
35 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,907
Tracked since 1951
Census
Darah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 929 people with the first name Darah, which placed it at #13,117 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,117
National first-name rank
People counted
929
929 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darah is White at 61.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Hispanic (12.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Darah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Darah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.7% · 573
- Black or African American15.4% · 143
- Hispanic or Latino12.3% · 114
- Two or more races4.7% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 14
Popularity
Darah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darah from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 248 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Darah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Darah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Florida, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Darah, while Illinois, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darah
The name Darah originates from Arabic and Persian origins, with roots dating back to the 7th century AD. In Arabic, the word "darah" means "brilliant" or "splendid," while in Persian, it can also signify "possessing wealth or prosperity." This name gained widespread usage across the Middle East and Central Asia during the Islamic Golden Age.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Darah can be found in the ancient Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh, written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century AD. The poem tells the story of a brave warrior named Darah, who fought valiantly against invaders.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Darah. One such individual was Darah Khan, a powerful military general who served under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century (1658-1707). He is renowned for his strategic brilliance and unwavering loyalty to the empire.
Another prominent figure was Darah Shikoh (1615-1659), the eldest son of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. A skilled scholar and patron of the arts, Darah Shikoh is remembered for his efforts to promote religious tolerance and bridge the gap between Islamic and Hindu philosophies.
In the realm of literature, Darah Gai stands out as a celebrated 19th century Afghan poet (1785-1865). Her poetic works, often exploring themes of love and spirituality, have been widely acclaimed and continue to be studied by scholars today.
Darah Singh Grewal (1913-1964) was a revered military officer in the Indian Army who earned the prestigious Maha Vir Chakra, India's second-highest military decoration, for his exceptional bravery and leadership during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Darah, a name that has continued to endure and transcend cultural boundaries, symbolizing brilliance, prosperity, and valor.
People
Darah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Darah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,005 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 341,049 US residents.
Is Darah a common name?
We classify Darah as "Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,053 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darah most popular?
The single biggest year for Darah was 1988, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darah is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 929 people with the name Darah, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,117 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Darah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Darah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darah leans strongly female. 896 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 26 male bearers (2.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Darah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darah is White at 61.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Hispanic (12.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Darah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.7% (573 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Darah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Darah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Darah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Darah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.