Darcee
Dark or dark-haired one, variant of French Darcy.
Name Census estimates that about 455 living Americans carry the first name Darcee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Darcee today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darcee births was 1960 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darcee. 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 Darcee with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
455
~ 1 in 753,306 Americans
Peak year
1960
22 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2014 SSA rank
#15,033
Tracked since 1952
Census
Darcee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 514 people with the first name Darcee, which placed it at #20,187 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
#20,187
National first-name rank
People counted
514
514 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darcee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darcee is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Black (3.1%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Darcee 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 Darcee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.7% · 461
- Black or African American3.1% · 16
- Two or more races3.1% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Darcee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darcee from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 134 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darcee 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 Darcee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darcee
The name Darcee is an English variant of the French name Darcey, which itself is derived from the place name Darcey, a small village in eastern France. The name Darcey likely originated from the Old French word "darce," meaning a wooded valley or glen.
The earliest recorded use of the name Darcee can be traced back to the late 16th century in England. It was initially used as a surname, but over time, it transitioned into a feminine given name. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Darcee Grantham, born in 1598 in Yorkshire, England.
In the 17th century, the name Darcee gained some popularity among the English nobility. One notable example is Darcee Fitzwilliam (1622-1698), a noblewoman and landowner from Lincolnshire. She was known for her philanthropy and support of local churches and schools.
During the 18th century, the name Darcee spread to other parts of Europe, particularly in France and Germany. One prominent figure was Darcee Beaumont (1711-1786), a French philosopher and writer who was influential in the Age of Enlightenment.
In the 19th century, the name Darcee gained a foothold in the United States, particularly among families with English or French ancestry. One famous American bearer of the name was Darcee Emerson (1845-1923), a renowned educator and women's rights activist from Massachusetts.
Another notable figure was Darcee Whitman (1879-1957), an American poet and writer who was part of the Imagist literary movement. Her works often explored themes of nature and the human experience.
As the 20th century progressed, the name Darcee continued to be used, albeit less commonly than some other names. One interesting example is Darcee Barker (1921-2008), a British anthropologist and expert on the indigenous cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands.
People
Darcee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darcee 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
Darcee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darcee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 455 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darcee 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 753,306 US residents.
Is Darcee a common name?
We classify Darcee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 518 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darcee most popular?
The single biggest year for Darcee was 1960, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darcee is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darcee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 514 people with the name Darcee, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,187 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 Darcee 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 Darcee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darcee leans strongly female. 518 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Darcee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darcee is White at 89.7%. The next largest groups are Black (3.1%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Darcee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darcee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (461 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 Darcee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darcee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darcee 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 Darcee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darcee 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 Darcee 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 common is the name Darcee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.