Daryus
A masculine name of Persian origin meaning "the wealthy one".
Name Census estimates that about 331 living Americans carry the first name Daryus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Daryus today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daryus births was 1996 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daryus. 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 Daryus with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
331
~ 1 in 1,035,512 Americans
Peak year
1996
16 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,178
Tracked since 1989
Census
Daryus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 266 people with the first name Daryus, which placed it at #31,950 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
#31,950
National first-name rank
People counted
266
266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daryus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daryus is Black at 68.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). 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 Daryus 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 Daryus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.8% · 183
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 30
- Two or more races9.8% · 26
- White7.1% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 4
Popularity
Daryus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daryus from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 134 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daryus 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 Daryus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daryus
The name Daryus has its origins in the ancient Persian language, tracing back to the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, which ruled from around 550 BCE to 330 BCE. It is derived from the Old Persian word "Dārayavahuš," which is believed to mean "he who holds firm the good."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daryus can be found in the Behistun Inscription, a multilingual inscription carved into a rocky cliff in present-day Iran. This inscription, commissioned by Darius the Great (550-486 BCE), provides a historical account of the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire and the early years of Darius's reign.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Daryus. Darius I, also known as Darius the Great (550-486 BCE), was a Persian king who expanded the Achaemenid Empire to its greatest extent, stretching from the Indus Valley in the east to modern-day Libya in the west. He is credited with establishing a powerful administrative system and initiating major construction projects, including the construction of the famous Persepolis palace complex.
Another prominent figure with the name Daryus was Darius II (423-404 BCE), a Persian king who ruled during a period of instability and conflict within the Achaemenid Empire. He is known for his efforts to restore stability and maintain control over the vast empire.
In the Islamic world, the name Daryus has also been used, although its spelling and pronunciation may vary slightly. One example is Dara Shikoh (1615-1659), the eldest son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and a renowned scholar and poet. He is celebrated for his efforts to promote understanding between Islam and Hinduism.
The name Daryus has also been adopted in various forms in other cultures and languages. For example, in ancient Greek texts, the name appears as "Dareios," and in Latin texts, it is written as "Darius."
Throughout history, several other notable individuals have borne the name Daryus, including Darius III (380-330 BCE), the last king of the Achaemenid Empire, and Darius the Mede, a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Daniel.
People
Daryus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daryus 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
Daryus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daryus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 331 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daryus 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 1,035,512 US residents.
Is Daryus a common name?
We classify Daryus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 336 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daryus most popular?
The single biggest year for Daryus was 1996, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daryus is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daryus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 266 people with the name Daryus, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,950 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 Daryus 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 Daryus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daryus leans strongly male. 255 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 7 female bearers (2.7%). 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 Daryus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daryus is Black at 68.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (9.8%). 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 Daryus most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Daryus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.8% (183 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 Daryus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daryus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Daryus 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 Daryus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daryus 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 Daryus 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 common is the name Daryus?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.