Darlene
A feminine name of unknown origin, meaning uncertain but possibly "little darling".
Name Census estimates that about 125,919 living Americans carry the first name Darlene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Darlene today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darlene births was 1958 (8,308 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darlene. 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 Darlene with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Darlene is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 604 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Darlene have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
126K
~ 1 in 2,722 Americans
Peak year
1958
8,308 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1989 SSA rank
#1,802
Tracked since 1896
Census
Darlene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 145,951 people with the first name Darlene, which placed it at #382 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
#382
National first-name rank
People counted
146K
145,951 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
48.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darlene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darlene is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Darlene 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 Darlene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 106,771
- Black or African American14.6% · 21,269
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 10,577
- Two or more races2.2% · 3,264
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 2,313
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 1,757
Gender
Gender distribution for Darlene
Out of the 205,436 babies given the name Darlene since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Darlene as a male name
- Ranked #6,363 in 1989
- 7 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1958 (29 births)
Darlene as a female name
- Ranked #1,802 in 2024
- 111 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (8,279 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darlene appears almost entirely female. Of the 145,944 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Darlene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darlene from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 62,024 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darlene 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 Darlene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darlenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Darlene, while Nevada, Alaska, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,942 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darlene
The name Darlene is a relatively modern English given name that emerged in the early 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names Darla and Arlene, both of which have separate roots and origins.
The first part, "Dar," is thought to be derived from the Old English word "deor," meaning "deer." This root is also found in names like Darcy and Daria. The second part, "lene," is believed to come from the German name Arlene, which itself is a variation of the name Arlen, meaning "little bear."
While the name Darlene does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its component parts have been present in various cultures for centuries. The earliest recorded use of the name Darlene itself dates back to the early 1900s in the United States.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Darlene was Darlene Harder, an American film actress born in 1921. She appeared in several movies in the 1940s and 1950s, including "The Big Punch" and "The Girl from Jones Beach."
Another famous Darlene was Darlene Love, an American singer and actress born in 1941. She was known for her work as a backing vocalist for popular artists like Elvis Presley and Dionne Warwick, as well as her solo hits like "He's a Rebel" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)."
Darlene Cates, an American actress born in 1947, is best remembered for her role as the mother in the 1993 film "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." Despite having a relatively short acting career, her performance in that movie was widely acclaimed.
In the world of sports, Darlene Hardick was a Canadian figure skater born in 1951. She won several national championships and represented Canada at the 1972 and 1976 Winter Olympics.
Lastly, Darlene Zschech is an Australian Pentecostal Christian worship leader and singer-songwriter born in 1965. She has written many popular contemporary Christian music songs and has been a significant figure in the modern worship music movement.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Darlene
People
Darlene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darlene 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
Darlene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darlene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 125,919 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darlene 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 2,722 US residents.
Is Darlene a common name?
We classify Darlene as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 205,436 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darlene most popular?
The single biggest year for Darlene was 1958, when 8,308 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darlene is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darlene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 145,951 people with the name Darlene, or 48.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #382 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 Darlene 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 Darlene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darlene appears almost entirely female. Of the 145,944 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Darlene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darlene is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Darlene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darlene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (106,771 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 Darlene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darlene a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Darlene 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 Darlene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darlene 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 Darlene 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 Darlene?
Find out how many Americans are named Darlene on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.