Darey
Masculine · “holding firm to the good”
Darey stands near a Persian king. Darius held the largest empire the world had seen, and his own name is a sentence in Old Persian about holding on to what is good — which is a considerable thing for a name to say.
How old is the name Darey?
Darey first appears in US birth records in 2005 — 20 years ago. The typical Darey alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 700 people named Darey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Darey most popular?
Darey peaked in 2009, reaching #1433 nationally. Today it ranks #3036, 1,603 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Where it comes from
From Dārayavauš to Darey
The story of Darey
Darius the Great ruled the Achaemenid empire from the Indus to the Aegean, built Persepolis and left an inscription at Behistun that became the key to reading cuneiform — a trilingual carving on a cliff face that did for Mesopotamian languages what the Rosetta Stone did for Egyptian. The name reached Europe through Greek historians. In American use Darey is more likely a respelling of Darrie or a shortening of Darren, and the Persian road is available rather than proven.
Meaningscholars disagree
holding firm to the good — if the Darius reading holds
Old Persian Darayavaush is generally read as darayat, 'holding', with vahu, 'good' — one who holds the good, or holds firm. That reading is documented for Darius. Whether Darey descends from it is not: the name also sits near Darren, whose own origin is unrecorded, and near the English surname Darey. Both roads are plausible and the record chooses neither.
How the name formed
- Dārayavauš
- Darius
- Darey
Related forms: Dariush · Darius · Darrie
Pronouncing Darey
DAIR-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. DAR-ee, with a flatter first vowel, is also heard and both circulate in American use.
Nicknames for Darey
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
- 2005
- Most boys named
- 2009117 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1433reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- +11.1%40 in 2025, from 36
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.
Darey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dariush in Persian — related form
- Darius in English — related form
- Darrie in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Arizona.
Dareys among us
people named Darey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was named Darey
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 Filiberto test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Darey's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Filiberto climbed just as high around 1981, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Filiberto's path sketches the road Darey is walking now.
Darey 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
Where Darey is headed
Darey looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 30% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Darey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Darey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two easy syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- Dar and Rey are both usable short forms and Rey is a name of its own.
- Five letters, nothing silent, and easy for a small child to write.
- Its connection to Darius is available rather than recorded, so a firm etymology overstates it.
- Darey, Darrie, Darry and Dari all circulate and none is standard.
- It sits close to Darren and Darcy and gets misheard as both.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Darey to the vote.
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What they receive
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Darey
Masculine · #3036 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dareys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Darey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Darey in 2025?
- Darey ranks #3036 among US boy names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Darey?
- About 1 in every 42,702 US boys born in 2025 was named Darey — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Darey with classmates?
- Darey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Darey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Loren#3036 · Williams#3036 · Collier#3036 · Amadou#3036 · Kavion#3036 · Sheppard#3036 · Koi#3036 · Claude#3036
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Darey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Darey and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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