Darnell
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Meaning
hidden nook (place name)
How popular is Darnell around the world?
In the United States, 500 babies were named Darnell between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Darnell in 2017.
Darnell is on the official records of the United States and South Australia.
United States
1 in 44,000
In the United States, 500 babies were named Darnell between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Darnell peaked in the 1990s and the 2000s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Darnell has stayed between 500 and 6,500 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Darnell in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 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
Canada
last on record 2020
Darnell is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
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)
England and Wales
last on record 2023
Darnell is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
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
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Darnell
Most people given the name Darnell in the United States were born between 1960 and 1999. The Darnell you meet today is most often in his 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Darnell deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Darnell 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 Darnell fits with your family’s names and surname.
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