Daniel Johnston
There are approximately 705 people named Daniel Johnston living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 486,176 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Daniel with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Johnston. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
705
1 in 486,176
Named Daniel
1.7M
Alive today
Named Johnston
145K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.7M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1985
Average age: 43
Top Census group: White (67.1%)
Estimated bearers: 145K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #237
Per 100K: 42.18
Top ancestry: White (88.3%)
First name trend
Daniel: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Daniel. The peak year was 1985 with 38,858 births. The average person named Daniel today is 43 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daniel
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Daniel, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 67.1%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Daniel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Daniel at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White67.1% · 1,078,953
- Hispanic or Latino22.9% · 367,785
- Black or African American4.2% · 67,007
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 44,475
- Two or more races2.6% · 41,082
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7,891
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Johnston surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Johnston, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 88.3%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Johnston described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Johnston at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White88.3% · 111,333
- Two or more races3.9% · 4,945
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 4,719
- Black or African American2.5% · 3,107
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1,053
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 911
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Daniel has a living-bearer frequency of 0.4879% of the US population, based on 1,672,238 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Daniel right now.
The surname Johnston appears at a rate of 42.18 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0422%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 705 people with the full name Daniel Johnston. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Daniel
Related
Other people with the surname Johnston
FAQ
Daniel Johnston: questions and answers
How many people are named Daniel Johnston?
We estimate approximately 705 people in the United States share the full name Daniel Johnston. That works out to about 1 in 486,176 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.4879%) with the surname frequency (42.18 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Daniel Johnston?
We classify Daniel Johnston as "Very Rare". About 1 in 486,176 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Daniel a male or female name?
Daniel is predominantly male. Out of 1,982,857 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Daniel profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How common is the name Daniel Johnston?
Find out how common the name Daniel Johnston is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.