Daren
A Persian masculine name meaning "one who holds possessions".
Name Census estimates that about 9,965 living Americans carry the first name Daren. It is a predominantly male name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Daren today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daren births was 1965 (769 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daren. 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 Daren with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Daren is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 194 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
10.0K
~ 1 in 34,396 Americans
Peak year
1965
769 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,831
Tracked since 1922
Census
Daren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,454 people with the first name Daren, which placed it at #2,558 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
#2,558
National first-name rank
People counted
9.5K
9,454 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daren is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.5%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Daren 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 Daren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.7% · 6,402
- Black or African American15.5% · 1,469
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 665
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 533
- Two or more races3.1% · 291
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 94
Gender
Gender distribution for Daren
Daren leans heavily male at 98.2% of total registrations, but 194 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Daren as a male name
- Ranked #2,831 in 2024
- 45 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1965 (762 births)
Daren as a female name
- Ranked #13,950 in 1994
- 5 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1959 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daren leans strongly male. 9,201 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 250 female bearers (2.6%).
Popularity
Daren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daren from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 4,036 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daren 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 Daren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Daren, while District of Columbia, New Hampshire, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 163 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daren
The name Daren has its origins in the Old English language, deriving from the combination of the elements "deor" meaning "beloved" and "ren" meaning "counsel" or "advice." It dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, spanning from the 5th to the 11th centuries AD. The name was commonly associated with the regions of England, particularly the southern and central areas where Old English was widely spoken.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daren can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England completed in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Dærene" and "Dærene," reflecting the linguistic variations of the time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Daren. Daren of Cologne (c. 1150 – c. 1220) was a German philosopher and theologian who wrote extensively on metaphysics and the nature of the soul. Another prominent figure was Daren de Montfort (1208 – 1265), an English nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III.
In the realm of literature, Daren Chaucer (c. 1340 – 1400), the celebrated English poet and author, is often referred to as the "Father of English Literature." His masterpiece, "The Canterbury Tales," is a seminal work that has profoundly influenced the English literary tradition.
Moving forward in time, Daren Wren (1632 – 1723) was a renowned English architect who is credited with designing numerous iconic buildings, including St. Paul's Cathedral in London, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.
Another notable figure was Daren Wilberforce (1759 – 1833), a British politician, philanthropist, and a leading figure in the movement to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. His tireless efforts and oratory skills played a crucial role in the eventual passage of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833.
While the name Daren has seen a decline in popularity in recent decades, its rich history and cultural significance remain undeniable, with notable figures spanning various fields and eras.
People
Daren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daren 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
Daren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,965 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daren 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 34,396 US residents.
Is Daren a common name?
We classify Daren as "Rare". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,014 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daren most popular?
The single biggest year for Daren was 1965, when 769 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daren is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,454 people with the name Daren, or 3.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,558 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 Daren 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 Daren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daren leans strongly male. 9,201 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 250 female bearers (2.6%). 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 Daren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daren is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.5%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Daren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Daren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.7% (6,402 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 Daren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daren a male name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Daren in the SSA data are male. 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 Daren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daren 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 Daren 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 called Daren?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.