Names › Boy › D › Darnell
Boy name

Darnell

/dɑˈɹnɛl/ · 92% boys · 56 born in 2025

Darnell has been given to about 31,018 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1984, which makes it a Gen X and millennial name.

Meaning—
Origin—
Syllables2
Pronunciation/dɑˈɹnɛl/
Nicknames—
Living in the US≈ 26,993
Median age today43 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Darnell per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesEngland & WalesScotlandFranceeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year1984 · 770
  • Born in 202556
  • All time31,018

How popular is Darnell?

Its best year was 1984, when 770 babies were given the name, ranking 281st. The typical living American called Darnell is about 43 years old today. It is relatively most common in New Jersey, where it accounts for 0.01% of births.

Names that sound like Darnell

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Darrell0.88
  2. Darell0.88
  3. Carnell0.88
  4. Darrel0.79
  5. Marcell0.76
  6. Ardell0.76
  7. Markell0.76
  8. Farrell0.76

Middle names for Darnell

Ranked by flow score
  1. Darnell Paul0.77
  2. Darnell John0.77
  3. Darnell Blake0.76
  4. Darnell Wade0.76
  5. Darnell Ross0.76
  6. Darnell Quinn0.76

Sibling names for Darnell

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Bridgetsister · 0.92
  2. Claybrother · 0.92
  3. Elisasister · 0.91
  4. Arturobrother · 0.91
  5. Meredithsister · 0.91
  6. Salvadorbrother · 0.91

Where Darnell is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state
  1. New Jersey0.01%
  2. Ohio0.01%
  3. Texas0.00%

With a common surname

Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
  1. Darnell Anderson0.77
  2. Darnell White0.72
  3. Darnell Nguyen0.72
  4. Darnell Moore0.72
  5. Darnell Brown0.72
  6. Darnell Young0.69

How to read these numbers

Every score on this page is explained
  1. Phonetic similarity0–1
  2. Middle-name flow0–1
  3. Sibling fit0–1
  4. Living population estimatemethod
  5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Sources for Darnell

Every figure on this page is public record
  1. United States1880–2025
  2. England & Wales1996–2025
  3. Scotland1974–2020
  4. France1900–2025
  5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

Darnell across America

Share of 2025 births in each state. Darker means more common.
ME
WA
VT
NH
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
CA
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
DC
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
SC
AK
TX
GA
FL
HI
raremost common

Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.