Darnell
Feminine · “hidden place”
Darnell is given to both — 2,387 girls and 28,631 boys since 1880. See Darnell as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Darnel is a weed that grows in wheat and looks exactly like it until harvest. It is the plant in the parable about the enemy sowing tares among the good grain, it was a serious agricultural problem for two thousand years, and it is also, separately, a French place that gave England a surname.
How old is the name Darnell?
Darnell first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Darnell alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 1,900 people named Darnell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Darnell most popular?
Darnell peaked in 1948, reaching #1070 nationally. See the whole 1948 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Darnell
The weed matters because it is genuinely hard to see. Darnel seeds are the size of wheat seeds, the plant looks like wheat until it ripens, and it carries a fungus that makes it poisonous — which is why the parable's advice is to leave it until harvest rather than pull it early and lose the crop. Medieval farmers knew all this. The surname came from a different direction entirely, out of Normandy, crossed to England and then America, and moved to the front of the name in the twentieth century, where it became far commoner than it had ever been as a family name.
Meaningscholars disagree
hidden place, or a weed among wheat
The surname is generally traced to a French place name about a hidden or concealed spot. The English word darnel names the weed and is a separate line, and the two have shared a spelling for centuries.
Pronouncing Darnell
dar-NEL
Two syllables with the weight at the back. Front-weighted DAR-nel is also heard, particularly where the name is used as a surname.
Nicknames for Darnell
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 195070 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1070reached in 1948
- Change vs 1999
- 0.0%5 in 2017, 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.
Darnells among us
people named Darnell 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
Darnell 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
- Both syllables are readable, so the name is said correctly at sight.
- It works as a surname and as a first name, which suits families that use both.
- It carries two short forms with quite different characters.
- It shares a spelling with a weed, though almost nobody now knows the word.
- Darnel and Darnell are both in the record and will be confused.
- It is strongly associated with the second half of the twentieth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Darnell 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 Darnell? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Darnell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Darnells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Darnell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Darnell in 2025?
- Darnell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Darnell with classmates?
- Darnell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Darnell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Darnell 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