Darius
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.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Darius peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
145 people · the #31,820 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 9
Among people named Darius living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 46 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
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.
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.
Keep exploring
Names like Darius · Persian baby names · Names of kings and queens
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