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Darrayl vs Darrell

American parents have registered 160,952 Darrells since 1880, against 8 Darrayls. Darrell is still ahead, with 97 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Darrayl against Darrell, 1880 to 2025 0 1.3k 2.5k 3.8k 5k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Darrayl Darrell

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Darrell has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1886 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1963, when Darrayl had 8 and Darrell had 4,125.

Side by side

  Darrayl Darrell
Total US births 8160,952
Most in one year 84,797
Babies in 2025 under 597
Estimated living today 6113,000
Median age today 6259
Peak year 19631958
Best rank 3,044th boys90th boys
Rank in 2025 unranked1,688th
First recorded 19631886
Girls / boys 0 / 81,186 / 159,766

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Darrayls alive today are over 62; half the Darrells are over 59. That is 3 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Darrayl and Darrell.