Daphne
Meaning
laurel tree
The story
Daphne is the laurel tree, the nymph who became one to escape Apollo, which makes it one of the few names whose myth is about refusing a god and winning. Its American record is a long swell rather than a spike: steady growth to about 6,900 in the 1960s, a slow ebb through 2,500 in the 1990s, then the rebuild, about 5,100 in the 2000s, 7,800 in the 2010s, and 7,600 so far this decade, closing on the full 2010s total, all girls. No single cause owns the 1960s crest or the current return, and we decline to appoint one; a Regency heroine on the era's most-watched costume drama certainly did the recent numbers no harm, but the curve was already climbing when she curtsied. In our records: about 44,200 girls to seven boys. The laurel crowns victors; the name's own record is patience rewarded.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Daphne peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,352 people · the #6,749 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 142,857 · median age 16
Among people named Daphne living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 172 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
The Daphne deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Daphne truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Daphne fits with your family’s names and surname.
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