Darry
A masculine given name of unclear origin, possibly a variant of Darren.
Name Census estimates that about 1,267 living Americans carry the first name Darry. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Darry today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darry births was 1960 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darry. 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.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 270,524 Americans
Peak year
1960
69 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2014 SSA rank
#9,869
Tracked since 1930
Census
Darry in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,083 people with the first name Darry, which placed it at #11,716 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
#11,716
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,083 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darry
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darry is Black at 50.8%. The next largest groups are White (36.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.4%). 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 Darry 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 Darry at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.8% · 550
- White36.4% · 394
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.4% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 38
- Two or more races2.2% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 18
Popularity
Darry: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darry from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 529 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
Darry 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 Darry during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darrys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Darry, while Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darry
The name Darry has its origins in the Old Norse language, emerging during the Viking Age in Scandinavia between the 8th and 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old Norse word "darra," which means "brave" or "courageous." The name was initially popularized among the Norse people, who were known for their fearless seafaring and warrior culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Darry can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of prose narratives that recount the lives and adventures of prominent Norsemen. In the Saga of Grettir the Strong, written in the 13th century, a character named Darry Havarsson is mentioned as a formidable warrior and companion of the legendary Icelandic outlaw, Grettir Ásmundarson.
In the 10th century, a Viking chieftain named Darry Eriksson is said to have led a group of Norse settlers to the coastal regions of modern-day Normandy in France. This event marked the beginning of the Norman conquest, which would later have a significant impact on the course of European history.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Darry was primarily found in Scandinavian countries and regions with a strong Norse influence, such as Iceland, Norway, and parts of England and Scotland. One notable figure was Darry Sveinsson, a Norwegian explorer who is believed to have sailed westward and reached the shores of North America around the year 1000, predating the voyages of Christopher Columbus by nearly five centuries.
In the 16th century, a Swedish military leader named Darry Gustafsson played a crucial role in the Swedish War of Liberation against Denmark. His bravery and strategic skills were instrumental in securing Sweden's independence and establishing the Swedish monarchy.
Another noteworthy individual with the name Darry was Darry Magnusson, an Icelandic scholar and poet who lived in the 17th century. His writings and poetry were influential in preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of Iceland during a time when the island was under Danish rule.
While the name Darry has its roots in Old Norse and Scandinavian cultures, it has since been adopted and adapted in various other regions and languages, albeit with varying spellings and pronunciations. Nonetheless, its original meaning of "brave" or "courageous" remains a enduring testament to the bold and adventurous spirit of the Vikings who first bestowed this name upon their children.
People
Darry + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darry 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
Darry: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darry?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,267 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darry 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 270,524 US residents.
Is Darry a common name?
We classify Darry as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,536 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darry most popular?
The single biggest year for Darry was 1960, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darry is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darry in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,083 people with the name Darry, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,716 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 Darry 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 Darry?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darry leans strongly male. 1,032 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 48 female bearers (4.4%). 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 Darry?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darry is Black at 50.8%. The next largest groups are White (36.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.4%). 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 Darry most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Darry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.8% (550 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 Darry in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darry a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darry 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 Darry still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darry 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 Darry 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 Darry as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.