Daylan
Of Irish origin meaning "valley dweller" or "descendant of the valley".
Name Census estimates that about 2,821 living Americans carry the first name Daylan. It is a predominantly male name (97.1% of registrations). The average person named Daylan today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daylan births was 2006 (132 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daylan. 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 Daylan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Daylan is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 84 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 121,501 Americans
Peak year
2006
132 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,312
Tracked since 1971
Census
Daylan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,238 people with the first name Daylan, which placed it at #6,968 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
#6,968
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,238 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
38.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daylan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daylan is Black at 38.7%. The next largest groups are White (35.8%) and Hispanic (14.6%). 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 Daylan 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 Daylan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American38.7% · 866
- White35.8% · 802
- Hispanic or Latino14.6% · 327
- Two or more races6.8% · 153
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 35
Gender
Gender distribution for Daylan
Daylan leans heavily male at 97.1% of total registrations, but 84 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Daylan as a male name
- Ranked #2,312 in 2024
- 61 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (125 births)
Daylan as a female name
- Ranked #15,043 in 2014
- 6 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2000 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daylan leans strongly male. 2,082 people counted with this name were male (92.9%), compared with 160 female bearers (7.1%).
Popularity
Daylan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daylan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,072 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
Daylan 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 Daylan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Daylans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, California, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Daylan, while New York, Kentucky, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daylan
The name Daylan is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, deriving from the word "dala," which means "to guide" or "to lead." The name's roots can be traced back to the Middle Eastern region, particularly the Arabian Peninsula, where it was commonly used during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daylan can be found in ancient Islamic texts and historical accounts, where it was often associated with individuals renowned for their leadership qualities or their role as guides in various fields, such as religion, academia, or exploration.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Daylan. One such individual was Daylan al-Farisi (905-986), a renowned Persian scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and logic during the Islamic Golden Age.
Another prominent figure was Daylan ibn Abi'l-Fawaris (1030-1121), a celebrated Arab poet and writer from Andalusia, whose works were widely admired and studied throughout the Muslim world.
In the 13th century, Daylan al-Tusi (1201-1274) was a renowned Persian theologian, philosopher, and astronomer who made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of celestial mechanics and helped advance the understanding of planetary motion.
During the Ottoman Empire, Daylan Pasha (1515-1598) was a prominent military leader and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier, the highest-ranking political position in the Ottoman government, under Sultan Murad III.
In more recent times, Daylan Candela (1942-2019) was a notable American artist and sculptor, known for his intricate and thought-provoking works that explored themes of identity, culture, and the human condition.
While the name Daylan may have its origins in the Arabic language, it has transcended cultural and geographical boundaries, with individuals from various backgrounds and regions adopting it throughout history, each leaving their own indelible mark on their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human achievement.
People
Daylan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daylan 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
Daylan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daylan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,821 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daylan 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 121,501 US residents.
Is Daylan a common name?
We classify Daylan as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,861 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daylan most popular?
The single biggest year for Daylan was 2006, when 132 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daylan is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daylan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,238 people with the name Daylan, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,968 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 Daylan 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 Daylan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daylan leans strongly male. 2,082 people counted with this name were male (92.9%), compared with 160 female bearers (7.1%). 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 Daylan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daylan is Black at 38.7%. The next largest groups are White (35.8%) and Hispanic (14.6%). 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 Daylan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Daylan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.7% (866 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 Daylan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daylan a male name?
Yes, 97.1% of people registered as Daylan 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 Daylan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daylan 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 Daylan 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 are called Daylan?
You can see how many Americans are named Daylan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.