Daiel
A masculine name meaning "God is my judge" or "judge of God".
Name Census estimates that about 347 living Americans carry the first name Daiel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Daiel today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daiel births was 1985 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daiel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
347
~ 1 in 987,765 Americans
Peak year
1985
35 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1988 SSA rank
#5,885
Tracked since 1946
Popularity
Daiel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daiel from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 155 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daiel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Daiel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Daiels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Arizona, Michigan recorded the most babies named Daiel, while Michigan, Arizona, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daiel
The name Daiel is believed to have its origins in the ancient Semitic languages, although its exact roots and meaning are uncertain. Some scholars suggest it may be derived from the Hebrew word "dai," meaning "sufficient" or "enough," while others speculate it could be a variant spelling of the biblical name "Daniel," which means "God is my judge" in Hebrew.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daiel can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient Jewish religious manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea in the mid-20th century. The name appears in several of these scrolls, which date back to the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, suggesting it was in use among certain Jewish communities during that time period.
In the Middle Ages, the name Daiel seems to have been relatively uncommon, with few notable historical figures bearing this name. However, there are a handful of recorded instances, such as Daiel de Crecy, a 14th-century French nobleman and military commander who fought in the Hundred Years' War.
During the Renaissance period, the name Daiel gained some popularity in certain parts of Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. One notable individual was Daiel Barbaro, an Italian Renaissance scholar and diplomat who lived from 1514 to 1570 and served as the Venetian ambassador to England and France.
In the 17th century, the name Daiel was occasionally used in England and other parts of the British Isles. One example is Daiel Defoe, a British writer and journalist best known for his novel "Robinson Crusoe," who lived from 1660 to 1731.
Another historical figure with the name Daiel was Daiel Boone, the American pioneer and explorer who was born in 1734 and played a significant role in the early exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky and the American West.
While the name Daiel has not been as widely used as some other names throughout history, it has a rich and varied heritage, with instances spanning different cultures, time periods, and regions of the world.
People
Daiel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daiel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Daiel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daiel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 347 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daiel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 987,765 US residents.
Is Daiel a common name?
We classify Daiel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 397 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daiel most popular?
The single biggest year for Daiel was 1985, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daiel is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Daiel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Daiel in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.