Daniel Boy
How popular is Daniel?
#22 boy name in 2025
8,085 baby boys were named Daniel in the US in 2025, making it the 22nd most popular boy name. Another 8 girls got the name (#10,913 for girls).
Daniel popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #22 for boys (▼ 6 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 8,085 boys, 8 girls |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-40% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #12 in 2015, #14 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1985 (38,559 boys) |
| Highest rank | #5 in 1985 (4 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 6% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Daniel counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Daniel family of names ranked #25 for boys in 2025 (#21 the year before), with 8,136 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel | 8,085 | 99% |
| Danial | 9 | 0% |
| Daniil | 10 | 0% |
| Danyal | 12 | 0% |
| Danniel | 9 | 0% |
| Danyel | 6 | 0% |
| Daniell | 5 | 0% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Daniel is most popular
Babies named Daniel per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- District of Columbia: 8.8 per 1,000 (130 boys)
- Alaska: 8.3 per 1,000 (99 boys)
- New Mexico: 7.4 per 1,000 (245 boys)
- New Jersey: 7.3 per 1,000 (1,467 boys)
- Nevada: 7.1 per 1,000 (406 boys)
Daniel by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,679 | #25 |
| 1890s | 5,185 | #37 |
| 1900s | 5,036 | #44 |
| 1910s | 23,978 | #51 |
| 1920s | 43,407 | #44 |
| 1930s | 47,998 | #38 |
| 1940s | 112,778 | #21 |
| 1950s | 243,727 | #16 |
| 1960s | 242,020 | #17 |
| 1970s | 244,454 | #10 |
| 1980s | 345,537 | #5 |
| 1990s | 272,360 | #5 |
| 2000s | 203,975 | #5 |
| 2010s | 133,952 | #8 |
| 2020s | 52,726 | #14 |
Boy names about as popular as Daniel
Questions
- Is Daniel a boy or girl name?
- Daniel is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Daniel were boys.
- How popular is the name Daniel?
- 8,085 baby boys were named Daniel in the US in 2025, making it the 22nd most popular boy name. Another 8 girls got the name (#10,913 for girls).
- When was Daniel most popular?
- Daniel peaked in 1985, when 38,559 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #5, held for 4 years starting in 1985.
- How many people are named Daniel?
- 1,991,091 babies have been named Daniel in the US since 1880. We estimate about 1,641,149 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 41.
- Where is Daniel most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Daniel was most common in District of Columbia, at 8.8 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.