Darius
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Meaning
upholder of good, possessing goodness; famously borne by Darius the Great, who expanded the Persian Empire to its height
The story
Darius descends from the Old Persian Darayavaush, upholder of good, and its towering namesake nearly lived up to the billing: Darius the Great, who ruled the Persian Empire at its greatest extent some twenty-five centuries ago, built the ceremonial capital at Persepolis and the Royal Road that let messengers cross a continent at unheard-of speed. The name traveled west through the Bible and the history books and never fully left. In American records Darius has long kept a quiet presence, and its strongest era has come within living memory: the last few decades have been its best stretch by far, a slow-building modern favorite rather than a one-year flash. Few names offer this particular bargain, an emperor's gravity delivered in three easy syllables, ancient enough for a museum and current enough for a classroom.
How popular is Darius around the world?
In the United States, 2,338 babies were named Darius between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 12 boys named Darius were born in 2025, the 329th most common name among boys that year.
Darius is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, New Zealand, Austria, Canada, Scotland, England and Wales, France, Poland, Spain, Mexico City, Argentina and Brazil.
United States
1 in 9,300
In the United States, 2,338 babies were named Darius between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Darius peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 4,500
In Ireland, 12 boys named Darius were born in 2025, the 329th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
New Zealand
1 in 4,800
In New Zealand, 12 boys named Darius were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Austria
1 in 5,400
In Austria, 14 boys named Darius were born in 2025, the 374th most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Canada
1 in 6,200
In Canada, 59 boys named Darius were born in 2024, the 496th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 6,500
In Scotland, 7 boys named Darius were registered in 2024, the 432nd most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 7,200
In England and Wales, 81 boys named Darius were born in 2025, the 478th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
France
1 in 8,000
In France, about 80 boys named Darius were born in 2025, the 563rd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Poland
1 in 62,000
In Poland, 4 boys named Darius were born in 2025, the 490th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Spain
1 in 93,000
In Spain, 481 residents are named Darius, ranked 2,362nd among men, with a mean age of 24.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Mexico City City
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Darius in 2022.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (1 registration through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Darius in 2024.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 145 people in Brazil were named Darius, ranked 31,820th, with a median age of 9.
Among people named Darius living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 46 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
last on record 2008
Darius is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Norway
last on record 2021
Darius is not on the 2025 record for Norway, where names carried by fewer than 4 people in a year are withheld at source.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
South Australia
last on record 2016
Darius is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
When you meet Darius
Most people given the name Darius in the United States were born between 1990 and 2009. The Darius you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Darius · Persian baby names · Names of kings and queens
The Darius deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Darius 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 Darius fits with your family’s names and surname.
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