FastNamesDaniel
Hebrew name meaning "Derived from Hebrew Daniyel (דָּנִיֵּאל), meaning 'God is my judge', formed from din ('to judge') and El ('God').". Ranked 22nd for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Daniel
Derived from Hebrew Daniyel (דָּנִיֵּאל), meaning 'God is my judge', formed from din ('to judge') and El ('God').
Linguistically, Daniel is classified under Hebrew naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "DAN-yuhl".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Daniel has been given to a total of 1,982,812 boys. It has also been given to 8,279 girls.
Peak year: Daniel reached its highest relative share among boys in 1985, when 38,559 babies received the name (20,863 per million births).
All-time best rank: 5th place, first achieved in 1985.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 22nd with 8,085 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 12th (down 10 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Daniel in the 1980s than in any other decade (345,537 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,679 |
| 1890s | 5,185 |
| 1900s | 5,036 |
| 1910s | 23,978 |
| 1920s | 43,407 |
| 1930s | 47,998 |
| 1940s | 112,778 |
| 1950s | 243,727 |
| 1960s | 242,020 |
| 1970s | 244,454 |
| 1980s | 345,537 |
| 1990s | 272,360 |
| 2000s | 203,975 |
| 2010s | 133,952 |
| 2020s | 52,726 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Daniel is most common in the US
Accounting for when Daniel was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Massachusetts: 1.4 times the national rate (64,252 births since 1910).
- Wisconsin: 1.3 times the national rate (52,095 births since 1910).
- Connecticut: 1.3 times the national rate (28,080 births since 1910).
- Minnesota: 1.2 times the national rate (44,735 births since 1910).
- New Hampshire: 1.2 times the national rate (8,016 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Daniel?
About 1,629,000 living American boys and men share the name Daniel. Additionally, an estimated 7,300 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Daniel is 41 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Daniel
Daniel has ancient Semitic roots, borne most famously by the Old Testament prophet Daniel who was carried into Babylonian captivity. Celebrated in the Book of Daniel for interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar's prophetic dreams and emerging unharmed from the den of lions due to his steadfast faith, the prophet made the name synonymous with moral integrity, spiritual resolve, and divine justice.
The name entered Greek as Daniel and Latin as Daniel, spreading widely throughout medieval Christendom. It was borne by a prominent second-century martyr and Saint Daniel the Stylite in fifth-century Constantinople. In England, Daniel was introduced by the Normans after 1066, appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086. It enjoyed a substantial resurgence during the seventeenth-century Protestant Reformation, when Puritan families favored Old Testament figures over medieval Catholic saints.
In United States demographic history, Daniel represents one of the most consistently popular boys' names ever recorded. It has never dropped below rank 65 in any year since national Social Security recordkeeping began in 1880. It surged into the top ten in 1976 and sustained top-ten status through the early 2000s, peaking at rank 5 in 1985 and 1990. Its enduring popularity across generations reflects both its classic biblical heritage and its friendly, accessible hypocorisms.
Notable people named Daniel
- Daniel Boone (1734–1820), Pioneer and frontiersman
- Daniel Webster (1782–1852), Statesman and orator
- Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), Writer and journalist
- Daniel Day-Lewis (1957–), Actor
- Daniel Craig (1968–), Actor
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 70.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 81.
- Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), p. 193.