Boys' name · peaked in 1939
Darrel name popularity since 1925
28,428 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Darrel. Half of them were born in 1956 or earlier, so the typical Darrel is about 70 years old in 2026. Darrel peaked in 1939 as the #243 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 28,428
- Named Darrel, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #5,435 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% boys
- 123 girls · 28,305 boys
- Most popular in
- South Dakota
- 5.81× its national share
Peak year is the year Darrel made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Darrel births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1960. Measured as a share of all babies, Darrel peaked in 1939.
- Fastest rise: Between 1927 and 1932, Darrel became 1.7× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1987 and 1992, its share of baby boys fell by 43%, from 1 in 8,770 to 1 in 15,400.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Darrel's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Darrel.
Decade by decade
Babies named Darrel in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 6 | 1,109 | – |
| 1930s | 17 | 3,734 | #266 |
| 1940s | 16 | 5,275 | #288 |
| 1950s | 39 | 6,035 | #292 |
| 1960s | 30 | 5,499 | #339 |
| 1970s | 15 | 2,658 | #547 |
| 1980s | 0 | 1,862 | #675 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,136 | #1,276 |
| 2000s | 0 | 538 | #1,990 |
| 2010s | 0 | 328 | #3,603 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 131 | #5,435 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
40.8% of babies named Darrel from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Darrel is most popular
The index compares Darrel's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Darrel.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 5.81× | 457 |
| North Dakota | 5.08× | 395 |
| Kansas | 4.32× | 1,088 |
| Nebraska | 3.90× | 676 |
| Oklahoma | 2.87× | 924 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Darrel and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Darrel (this page) | 28,305 | 1939 |
| Darrell | 155,851 | 1958 |
| Darryl | 92,205 | 1965 |
| Darell | 5,332 | 1986 |
| Darel | 2,058 | 1940 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Darrel's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Darrel.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Darrel (1939).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data