Darren
A masculine name of Celtic origin meaning "great, favored, or renowned".
Name Census estimates that about 96,207 living Americans carry the first name Darren. It is a predominantly male name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Darren today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darren births was 1965 (5,963 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darren. 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 Darren with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Darren is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 569 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Darren have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
96K
~ 1 in 3,563 Americans
Peak year
1965
5,963 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#953
Tracked since 1936
Census
Darren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 87,892 people with the first name Darren, which placed it at #604 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
#604
National first-name rank
People counted
88K
87,892 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
29.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darren is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.6%). 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 Darren 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 Darren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.6% · 58,524
- Black or African American17.9% · 15,763
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 4,948
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 4,095
- Two or more races3.8% · 3,308
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 1,254
Gender
Gender distribution for Darren
Out of the 104,320 babies given the name Darren since 1880, 99.5% 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.
Darren as a male name
- Ranked #953 in 2024
- 238 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1965 (5,938 births)
Darren as a female name
- Ranked #13,036 in 2017
- 7 female births in 2017
- Peak: 1966 (36 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darren appears almost entirely male. Of the 87,892 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Darren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darren from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 35,247 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
Darren 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 Darren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darrens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Darren, while Rhode Island, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,001 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darren
The name Darren is of Celtic origin, specifically derived from the Irish Gaelic word 'dara' which means 'fertile' or 'fruitful'. Its roots can be traced back to ancient Ireland and Scotland, where it was commonly used as a first name for boys born into farming communities.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Darren was particularly popular among the Gaelic-speaking populations of Ireland and Scotland. It was often associated with prosperity and abundance, reflecting the agricultural heritage of these regions. While the name does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it was widely used within these Celtic cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Darren can be found in Irish genealogical records from the 12th century. The first notable individual bearing this name was Darren O'Loughlin, an Irish chieftain who lived in the late 12th century and played a significant role in the struggles against Norman invaders in Ireland.
In the 16th century, Darren MacLean was a Scottish poet and translator, renowned for his works in both Gaelic and English. His birth and death dates are unknown, but he is believed to have lived during the reign of King James VI of Scotland.
Another historical figure with the name Darren was Darren O'Sullivan, an Irish rebel leader who participated in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 against English rule. He was born around 1610 and was ultimately executed for his involvement in the uprising.
In the 19th century, Darren O'Malley was an Irish scholar and linguist who made significant contributions to the preservation of the Irish language and culture. He was born in 1830 and dedicated his life to documenting and teaching the Gaelic language.
Darren O'Brien, born in 1888, was an Irish politician and activist who played a prominent role in the Irish independence movement. He served as a member of the Irish Republican Army and later became a member of the Irish Parliament.
While the name Darren has maintained its Celtic roots, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, its historical significance and cultural origins remain deeply rooted in the Celtic nations of Ireland and Scotland.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Darren
People
Darren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darren 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
Darren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 96,207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darren 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 3,563 US residents.
Is Darren a common name?
We classify Darren as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 104,320 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darren most popular?
The single biggest year for Darren was 1965, when 5,963 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darren is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 87,892 people with the name Darren, or 29.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #604 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 Darren 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 Darren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darren appears almost entirely male. Of the 87,892 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Darren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darren is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.6%). 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 Darren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.6% (58,524 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 Darren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darren a male name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Darren 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 Darren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darren 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 Darren 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 Darren?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.