Danzel
Masculine · “Cornish”
Denzel is a Cornish manor. The name comes from a place in the parish of St Mawgan, entered English as a surname, sat almost unused for centuries, and became one of the most recognizable American first names in a single decade.
How old is the name Danzel?
Danzel first appears in US birth records in 1983 — 42 years ago. The typical Danzel alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 600 people named Danzel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Danzel most popular?
Danzel peaked in 1991, reaching #1210 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 9,485 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Denzell to Danzel
The story of Danzel
The surname belonged to a Cornish gentry family and traveled to America with them, where it stayed rare for two centuries. Denzel Washington was named after his father, a Pentecostal minister, and his own career changed the name's history: an Academy Award in 1990 for Glory, then a run of leading roles through the decade, and the name entered the American records in numbers it had never approached before. What is unusual is how complete the transfer was. Almost every American now meeting the name thinks of one man, and almost none of them associate it with Cornwall, which is where it comes from and where the place still is. The respellings, Danzel and Denzell among them, followed immediately, as they always do.
Meaningscholars disagree
Cornish, from the place Denzell
Denzel is a Cornish place name and surname, from Denzell in St Mawgan; the elements are not securely identified. Danzel is an American respelling. The name's American rise follows one actor; this spelling's peak is 1991.
How the name formed
- Denzell
- Denzel
- Danzel
Related forms: Denzel · Denzil
Pronouncing Danzel
DEN-zel
Two syllables, stress on the first. Denzel and Danzel are homophones for most American speakers.
Nicknames for Danzel
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1983
- Most boys named
- 199184 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1210reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%6 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Danzel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Denzel in English — spelling variant
- Denzil in English — spelling variant
Danzels among us
people named Danzel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Danzel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Taiwan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Danzel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Taiwan climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Taiwan's path sketches the road Danzel is walking now.
Danzel sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Danzel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Danzel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables and six letters, spelled as heard.
- The Cornish place behind it is real and traceable.
- Den and Zel both work as short forms.
- Denzel is the standard spelling by a wide margin.
- One actor dominates the association entirely.
- The 1991 peak dates this respelling.
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What they receive
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Danzel
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Danzels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Danzel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Danzel in 2025?
- Danzel ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Danzel?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Danzel — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Danzel with classmates?
- Danzel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Danzel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Danzel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Danzel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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