Recorded 1912–2025 · United States
Darnell was most popular in 1984, when 770 American babies were given the name — ranking #586 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,203, with 56 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 31,018 people named Darnell.
Darnell first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1912, which makes it about 113 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 113 of the 114 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 31,018 American births named Darnell between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 27,140 are estimated to be alive today.
56 American babies were named Darnell in 2025, ranking #5,203 that year.
Darnell is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 80 births a year, against 197 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -59% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Darnell is mostly a boy’s name — 7.7% of the 31,018 Americans given it were girls and 92.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 27,140 Americans named Darnell are alive today — 87% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 43 years old, and half are between 31 and 57.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Darnell on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org