Darling
Feminine · “little dear”
Darling is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 1,045 girls against 15 boys since 1880.
Darling is the English word, and it is older than it looks — deorling in Old English, the little dear. It has been an English surname since the Middle Ages and a given name in the Americas for a century.
How old is the name Darling?
Darling first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Darling alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 1,000 people named Darling are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Darling most popular?
Darling peaked in 1948, reaching #2974 nationally. Today it ranks #3296, 322 places below that high. See the whole 1948 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From deorling to Darling
The story of Darling
Deorling was a byname before it was a surname — a term of affection that stuck — and Darling is common in Northumberland and the Scottish borders. As a given name it appears in American records from the early twentieth century and is used more widely still in the Philippines and in parts of the Caribbean and Latin America, where English affectionate words have been adopted as names. It is given to girls almost exclusively.
Meaning
little dear, beloved
From Old English deorling, built on deore, dear, with the diminutive ending -ling; the word has meant a favorite or a beloved person for more than a thousand years without changing much.
How the name formed
- deorling
- Darling
Related forms: Darlin · Darlene
Pronouncing Darling
DAR-ling
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Darling
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
- 1920
- Most girls named
- 202547 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2974reached in 1948
- Change vs 2023
- +42.4%47 in 2025, from 33
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.
Darling in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Darlin in Spanish — spelling variant
- Darlene in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Darlings among us
people named Darling are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 34,197 born in 2025 was named Darling
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 Ladelle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Darling's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ladelle climbed just as high around 1924, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ladelle's path sketches the road Darling is walking now.
Darling 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 Darling is headed
Darling looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 28% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium 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.
Darling beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Darling in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An ordinary English word, so nobody has to be taught to say or spell it.
- A settled meaning with a thousand years of continuous record.
- It has a genuine surname history as well as a word history.
- It is a term of endearment used to and about people constantly, which makes introductions odd.
- A grown woman introducing herself as Darling says something about herself each time.
- In British English it is also used sarcastically, which travelers will meet.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Darling to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Darling? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Darling
Feminine · #3296 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Darlings are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Darling are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Darling in 2025?
- Darling ranks #3296 among US girl names in 2025, with 47 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Darling?
- About 1 in every 34,197 US girls born in 2025 was named Darling — 47 in all.
- Will my child share the name Darling with classmates?
- Darling will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Darling
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Neva#3296 · Aleyda#3296 · Kaylor#3296 · Nalia#3296 · Anyeli#3296 · Izabel#3296 · Esmee#3296 · Rhoda#3296
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Darling? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Darling and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle