Daphene
Feminine · “laurel”
Daphene is Daphne with an extra e, a spelling that lengthens the Greek laurel into three syllables. The name has been attached to a sacred grove in Syria and to a volcanic island in the Galápagos where scientists watched evolution happen.
How old is the name Daphene?
Daphene first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Daphene alive today was born around 1955, making them about 70 years old. About 400 people named Daphene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Daphene most popular?
Daphene peaked in 1934, reaching #2187 nationally. See the whole 1934 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From daphnē to Daphene
The story of Daphene
Outside ancient Antioch lay Daphne, a grove of laurels and springs with a great temple of Apollo. When the emperor Julian, who hoped to restore the old gods, was staying in Antioch, the temple burned; he blamed the Christians of the city and closed their main church in reply. Far later, a small island in the Galápagos was named Daphne Major, and there the biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant measured finches year after year and saw their beaks change with drought and rain. Daphene carries the same laurel word in a longer spelling.
Meaning
laurel, through Daphne
Daphne is Greek for the laurel or bay tree. Daphene is an American respelling.
How the name formed
- daphnē
- Daphne
- Daphene
Related forms: Dafni · Daphné · Daphne
Pronouncing Daphene
DAF-uh-nee
Most families say it like Daphne with a light middle syllable. Some say da-FEEN, reading the -ene as in Irene; the spelling allows both.
Nicknames for Daphene
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
- 1916
- Most girls named
- 196422 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2187reached in 1934
- Change vs 1992
- +20.0%6 in 1993, from 5
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.
Daphene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dafni in Greek — related form
- Daphné in French — related form
- Daphne in English — spelling variant
Daphenes among us
people named Daphene are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Daphene sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a documented Greek meaning, laurel.
- It sounds like a familiar classic name.
- It is rare as a spelling, so it stands apart.
- Nearly everyone will write Daphne, and the extra e will need explaining.
- Readers may disagree about whether it has two syllables or three.
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Daphene
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Frequently asked
- How many Daphenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Daphene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Daphene in 2025?
- Daphene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Daphene with classmates?
- Daphene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Daphene? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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