Head to head · Boys' names
Daniel vs David
#22 vs #35 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Daniel is a whisker ahead (#22 vs #35 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Daniel and David each lead 2 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Daniel #31, David #21 — David higher
- 1890s: Daniel #40, David #28 — David higher
- 1900s: Daniel #49, David #31 — David higher
- 1910s: Daniel #54, David #29 — David higher
- 1920s: Daniel #47, David #22 — David higher
- 1930s: Daniel #42, David #11 — David higher
- 1940s: Daniel #25, David #6 — David higher
- 1950s: Daniel #19, David #4 — David higher
- 1960s: Daniel #18, David #2 — David higher
- 1970s: Daniel #13, David #4 — David higher
- 1980s: Daniel #8, David #5 — David higher
- 1990s: Daniel #9, David #12 — Daniel higher
- 2000s: Daniel #7, David #13 — Daniel higher
- 2010s: Daniel #12, David #20 — Daniel higher
- 2020s: Daniel #17, David #30 — Daniel higher
David stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Daniel has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Daniel | David |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #31 | #21 |
| 1890s | #40 | #28 |
| 1900s | #49 | #31 |
| 1910s | #54 | #29 |
| 1920s | #47 | #22 |
| 1930s | #42 | #11 |
| 1940s | #25 | #6 |
| 1950s | #19 | #4 |
| 1960s | #18 | #2 |
| 1970s | #13 | #4 |
| 1980s | #8 | #5 |
| 1990s | #9 | #12 |
| 2000s | #7 | #13 |
| 2010s | #12 | #20 |
| 2020s | #17 | #30 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Daniel
- Canada#28
- Scotland#43
- England & Wales#59
David
- Canada#46
- England & Wales#64
- Scotland#92
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Daniel
God is my judge
Hebrew Daniyyel: din, to judge, with el, God. It is a sentence rather than a description — the kind of name Hebrew builds constantly, where the child's name is a short statement about God. Michael, who is like God, and Samuel, God has heard, are made the same way.
Daniyyel → Danielus → Daniel
How it traveled
The Book of Daniel is stranger than its reputation. It changes language partway through: it opens in Hebrew, switches to Aramaic in the middle of a sentence in chapter two, runs in Aramaic for six chapters, and switches back.
David
beloved
The traditional reading takes it from Hebrew dod, beloved or uncle. A second account connects it with an Akkadian and Mari word for a commander or chieftain, which would make it a title rather than a name. Beloved is the older and commoner reading; neither has been settled.
Dawid → David
How it traveled
The Tel Dan stele matters because it is hostile: it is an enemy's victory inscription, written within about a century and a half of the events, and it refers to the ruling house of Judah by its founder's name as a matter of routine. That is a very different kind of evidence from a text written by people with an interest in the story.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Daniel
DAN-yul
Two or three syllables depending on how carefully it is said, stress on the first. Spanish and Portuguese put it on the last, dah-nee-EL, and Russian Daniil has three clear vowels. The Hebrew is dah-nee-YEL.
- Dan — The default, and a full name in its own right for a great many men.
- Danny — Warmer, and more often kept into adulthood than most -y forms.
- Dani — Used for the few girls given the name, and shared with Danielle and Daniela.
- Dane — A separate name that some Daniels adopt; it is not derived from this one.
David
DAY-vid
Two syllables, stress on the first. Spanish and French put it at the end, da-VEED, with no audible d in the French. Hebrew says da-VEED as well. The English front-loading is the outlier.
- Dave — The default in English; plain, adult and used at work.
- Davy — The warmer form; often kept from childhood into adulthood.
- Dai — The Welsh clip, said DYE; ordinary in Wales and rare elsewhere.
- Dov — Used in Jewish families, where it is also a separate Hebrew name meaning bear.
Who has carried each name
Daniel
Daniel Radcliffe (b. 1989) — Harry Potter himself
Daniel Craig (b. 1968) — James Bond of the Casino Royale era
Daniel Day-Lewis (b. 1957) — The only three-time Best Actor Oscar winner
David
David Bowie (b. 1947) — Rock's endlessly reinvented starman
David Attenborough (b. 1926) — The voice of the natural world
David Beckham (b. 1975) — Soccer superstar who bent it like no one else
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Daniel if you want…
- a name most people already know#22 in 2025, 8,085 babies that year
Choose David if you want…
- a name fewer children share#35 in 2025 — david will almost certainly be the only one in school
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Daniel
Strengths
- Spelled identically in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Polish.
- A settled meaning that is a complete sentence rather than an adjective.
- Four short forms covering formal, warm, childhood and adult use.
To consider
- It is one of the most given names in the English-speaking world, and has been for decades.
- Dan is what most people will arrive at, so it is worth liking the short form as much as the long one.
- The very few girls given this exact spelling will be read as boys on every form.
David
Strengths
- A three-thousand-year record with independent archaeological confirmation of the dynasty.
- The same spelling in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Russian and Hebrew.
- Four short forms in different languages, all in genuine current use.
To consider
- It has been among the most given names in the English-speaking world for a century, so it carries no signal at all.
- Dave is what most people will settle on, so it is worth liking the short form too.
- The very few girls given this spelling will be read as boys on every form.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Daniel and David in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Daniel and David?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Names that never go out of style
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- all guides
Every list here names both Daniel and David — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Daniel or David — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Daniel or David?
- Daniel, in 2025: Daniel ranked #22 with 8,085 babies; David ranked #35 with 6,794 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Daniel or David?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Daniel moved down 8 places; David moved down 7 places.
- Which is the older name, Daniel or David?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Daniel and David?
- About 1,643,000 people named Daniel are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 2,764,000 people named David are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Daniels or Davids in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Daniel. David will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Daniel, David and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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