Darrell
Derived from a French surname meaning "dweller among people, wanderer".
Name Census estimates that about 119,687 living Americans carry the first name Darrell. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Darrell today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darrell births was 1958 (4,796 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darrell. 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 Darrell with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Darrell is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,186 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Darrell have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
120K
~ 1 in 2,864 Americans
Peak year
1958
4,796 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,465
Tracked since 1886
Census
Darrell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 103,234 people with the first name Darrell, which placed it at #541 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
#541
National first-name rank
People counted
103K
103,234 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
34.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darrell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darrell is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.1%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Darrell 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 Darrell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.4% · 67,505
- Black or African American27.1% · 27,945
- Two or more races3.0% · 3,129
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 2,020
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 1,711
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 924
Gender
Gender distribution for Darrell
Out of the 160,855 babies given the name Darrell since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Darrell as a male name
- Ranked #1,465 in 2024
- 123 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (4,770 births)
Darrell as a female name
- Ranked #17,439 in 2011
- 5 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1970 (36 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darrell appears almost entirely male. Of the 103,236 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Darrell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darrell from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 38,282 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
Darrell 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 Darrell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darrells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Darrell, while Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,066 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darrell
The name Darrell has its origins in the Old French language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the French word "derrenier," which means "the last" or "the ultimate." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to the youngest or last-born child in a family.
In its earliest recorded use, the name appeared as a surname in England in the 12th century, where it was spelled "Darrell" or "Darell." It is believed that the surname was brought to England by Norman nobles after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Over time, the surname gradually transitioned into a given name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Darrell as a first name dates back to the late 14th century. In 1386, a man named Darrell Standish was mentioned in historical records from Lancashire, England. This suggests that the name had already become established as a given name by that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Darrell. One of the earliest was Sir Darrell Sampier (1479-1548), an English soldier and courtier who served under King Henry VIII. Another prominent figure was Darrell Greenwood (1647-1737), an English clergyman and author who wrote several theological works.
In the 19th century, Darrell Figgis (1882-1925) was an Irish writer and revolutionary who played a significant role in the Irish literary revival. He co-founded the Irish Texts Society and wrote several books on Irish history and culture.
Darrell K. Sweet (1934-2011) was an American clergyman and author who served as the president of Nazarene Theological Seminary from 1995 to 2005. He wrote numerous books on biblical studies and Christian ministry.
Darrell Wayne Waltrip (born 1947) is a former American race car driver and current motorsports commentator. He is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Darrell. While its origins can be traced back to Old French and the Middle Ages, the name has endured and continues to be used in various parts of the world today.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Darrell
People
Darrell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darrell 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
Darrell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darrell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 119,687 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darrell 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 2,864 US residents.
Is Darrell a common name?
We classify Darrell 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, 160,855 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darrell most popular?
The single biggest year for Darrell was 1958, when 4,796 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darrell is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darrell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 103,234 people with the name Darrell, or 34.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #541 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 Darrell 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 Darrell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darrell appears almost entirely male. Of the 103,236 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Darrell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darrell is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.1%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Darrell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darrell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.4% (67,505 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 Darrell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darrell a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Darrell 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 Darrell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darrell 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 Darrell 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 share the name Darrell?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.