Darien
Of Persian origin, meaning "wealthy" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 12,285 living Americans carry the first name Darien. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Darien today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darien births was 1994 (771 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darien. 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 Darien with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 27,900 Americans
Peak year
1994
771 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,247
Tracked since 1937
Census
Darien in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,162 people with the first name Darien, which placed it at #2,440 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
#2,440
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,162 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
35.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darien
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darien is Black at 35.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Hispanic (19.9%). 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 Darien 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 Darien at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American35.5% · 3,603
- White31.3% · 3,181
- Hispanic or Latino19.9% · 2,024
- Two or more races8.4% · 852
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 371
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 131
Gender
Gender distribution for Darien
Darien leans heavily male at 85.4% of total registrations, but 1,849 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Darien as a male name
- Ranked #1,247 in 2024
- 158 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (607 births)
Darien as a female name
- Ranked #15,797 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1995 (175 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darien leans strongly male. 8,512 people counted with this name were male (83.8%), compared with 1,645 female bearers (16.2%).
Popularity
Darien: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darien from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 4,641 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darien 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 Darien during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dariens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Darien, while Nevada, Utah, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 232 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darien
The given name Darien has its roots in the Persian language, originating from the word "dara" which means "wealthy" or "prosperous." This name can be traced back to ancient Persia, present-day Iran, during the Achaemenid Empire period between 550-330 BC.
The name Darien gained prominence in the ancient world due to its association with Darius the Great, one of the most influential rulers of the Achaemenid Empire. Darius I, who reigned from 522-486 BC, was responsible for expanding the Persian Empire to its greatest extent, stretching from the Indus River in the east to parts of Greece in the west.
In the biblical Book of Nehemiah, which is part of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, there is a reference to a person named Darius. This Darius is believed to be Darius II, who ruled the Persian Empire from 423-404 BC. The name is also mentioned in other ancient texts, including the works of Greek historians such as Herodotus and Xenophon.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Darien can be found in the 5th century BC, with Darius III, the last king of the Achaemenid Empire. He was defeated by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, marking the end of the Persian Empire.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Darien. These include:
1. Darius I (550-486 BC), the famous Persian king mentioned earlier.
2. Darius II (423-404 BC), a Persian king referenced in the Book of Nehemiah.
3. Darius III (380-330 BC), the last king of the Achaemenid Empire.
4. Darius the Persian, a character in the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
5. Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), a French composer and teacher, known for his innovative use of jazz elements in classical music.
The name Darien has continued to be used across various cultures and regions, albeit with variations in spelling and pronunciation. Its Persian origins and historical associations with influential figures have contributed to its enduring popularity as a given name.
People
Darien + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darien 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
Darien: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darien?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,285 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darien 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 27,900 US residents.
Is Darien a common name?
We classify Darien as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,700 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darien most popular?
The single biggest year for Darien was 1994, when 771 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darien is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darien in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,162 people with the name Darien, or 3.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,440 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 Darien 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 Darien?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darien leans strongly male. 8,512 people counted with this name were male (83.8%), compared with 1,645 female bearers (16.2%). 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 Darien?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darien is Black at 35.5%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Hispanic (19.9%). 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 Darien most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Darien in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.5% (3,603 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 Darien in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darien a male name?
Yes, 85.4% of people registered as Darien 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 Darien still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darien 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 Darien 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 have Darien as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Darien, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.