Darris
A masculine name of unclear etymology and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 1,717 living Americans carry the first name Darris. It is a predominantly male name (95.3% of registrations). The average person named Darris today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darris births was 1983 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darris. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Darris is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 98 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 199,624 Americans
Peak year
1983
60 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2022 SSA rank
#7,228
Tracked since 1917
Census
Darris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,378 people with the first name Darris, which placed it at #9,877 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
#9,877
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,378 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darris is Black at 58.3%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Darris 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 Darris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.3% · 803
- White33.6% · 463
- Two or more races3.6% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Darris
Darris leans heavily male at 95.3% of total registrations, but 98 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Darris as a male name
- Ranked #7,886 in 2022
- 10 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1983 (60 births)
Darris as a female name
- Ranked #7,228 in 1968
- 5 female births in 1968
- Peak: 1930 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darris leans strongly male. 1,254 people counted with this name were male (91.5%), compared with 116 female bearers (8.5%).
Popularity
Darris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darris from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 445 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darris 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 Darris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darris' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Missouri, North Carolina, Illinois recorded the most babies named Darris, while New Jersey, Georgia, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darris
The given name Darris is a modern variation of the ancient Greek name Darius, which has its roots in the Persian language. The name Darius is derived from the Old Persian word "Dârâ," which means "to possess" or "to hold." This name has a rich historical significance and has been carried by several influential figures throughout history.
In ancient times, Darius was a common name among the Persian nobility and royalty. One of the most notable figures with this name was Darius the Great, also known as Darius I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire from 522 to 486 BC. He is credited with expanding the Persian Empire to its greatest extent, stretching from the Indus Valley in the east to parts of modern-day Greece in the west.
Another significant figure named Darius was Darius III, who was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire. He reigned from 336 to 330 BC and was ultimately defeated by Alexander the Great, marking the end of the Persian Empire's rule.
The name Darius also appears in religious texts, such as the Bible. In the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah, Darius is mentioned as a king of Persia who allowed the Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
As the name spread throughout the ancient world, it underwent various spellings and variations. In ancient Greece, it was sometimes spelled as "Dareios," while in Latin, it was written as "Darius." Over time, the name evolved into different forms in various cultures and languages.
One notable figure with a variation of the name Darius was Dariusz Michalowski, a Polish noble and military commander who lived in the 16th century. He played a significant role in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's military campaigns against the Muscovite forces.
Another individual worth mentioning is Darris Summers, an American football player who played as a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) from 1987 to 1991. He was born in 1964 and played for teams such as the Los Angeles Raiders and the Seattle Seahawks.
In the realm of literature, Darris Cooper is an American author and poet known for his works exploring themes of identity, race, and the African-American experience. He was born in 1953 and has published several collections of poetry and short stories.
Darris Fowler is another notable figure, a former professional basketball player from the United States. Born in 1963, he played in the NBA for teams like the Sacramento Kings and the Denver Nuggets during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Last but not least, Darris McCord is a Canadian actor and voice artist born in 1961. He is known for his work in various animated series and video games, lending his voice to numerous characters over the years.
People
Darris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darris 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
Darris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,717 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darris 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 199,624 US residents.
Is Darris a common name?
We classify Darris as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,084 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darris most popular?
The single biggest year for Darris was 1983, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darris 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 Darris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,378 people with the name Darris, or 0.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,877 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 Darris 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 Darris?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darris leans strongly male. 1,254 people counted with this name were male (91.5%), compared with 116 female bearers (8.5%). 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 Darris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darris is Black at 58.3%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Darris most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Darris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.3% (803 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 Darris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darris a male name?
Yes, 95.3% of people registered as Darris 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 Darris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darris 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 Darris 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 the name Darris?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Darris on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.