Daniel
Daniel is ranked 16th among boys in 2024 (8,391 births). Its best rank was 5th, in 1985, 1990, 2007–2008.
- Rank in 2024
- #16up 1 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 8,3910.49% of boys
- Peak year
- 198538,564 births
- Best rank
- #5first in 1985
- Since 1880
- 1,982,857people given the name
The story in the numbers
1,974,589 boys have been named Daniel in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1985, with 38,564 births — 2.1% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 10 → 16).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1980, and the 1980s alone account for 18%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 145 of them in the top 100 and 31 in the top 10.
It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 8,268 girls have also been given it, 0.42% of the total.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Daniel | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,679 | |
| 1890s | 5,185 | |
| 1900s | 5,036 | |
| 1910s | 23,978 | |
| 1920s | 43,407 | |
| 1930s | 47,998 | |
| 1940s | 112,776 | |
| 1950s | 243,725 | |
| 1960s | 242,014 | |
| 1970s | 244,463 | |
| 1980s | 345,559 | |
| 1990s | 272,345 | |
| 2000s | 203,951 | |
| 2010s | 133,909 | |
| 2020s | 44,564 |
In 1985, its biggest year
Daniel was the 5th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1985 were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Daniel. See all of 1985.
Names that rose and fell with Daniel
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Joelpeak 1985
- Renepeak 1970
- Rubenpeak 1992
- Anthonypeak 1990
- Patrickpeak 1964
- Philippepeak 1979
- Reynaldopeak 1991
- Jacquespeak 1969
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.