Danail
A male given name of Bulgarian origin meaning "lion is God".
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Danail. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Danail today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danail births was 1954 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danail. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Danail with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Danail is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Danails were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Danail. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1954
6 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1954 SSA rank
#3,527
Tracked since 1954
Census
Danail in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 167 people with the first name Danail, which placed it at #42,759 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#42,759
National first-name rank
People counted
167
167 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Danail
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danail is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Black (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Danail described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Danail at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.1% · 122
- Hispanic or Latino13.2% · 22
- Black or African American9.0% · 15
- Two or more races4.2% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1
Popularity
Danail: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Danail 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 Danail during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Danail
The name Danail is of Slavic origin, specifically Bulgarian. It is a masculine given name derived from the Hebrew name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" or "God has judged." The name Danail has its roots in the Old Testament, where Daniel was a Hebrew prophet who interpreted dreams and visions for Babylonian kings.
The earliest recorded use of the name Danail can be traced back to the early Christian era in the Balkans. It gained popularity among the Bulgarians, who embraced Christianity in the 9th century. The name Danail became a common choice for Bulgarian families, perhaps influenced by the biblical figure's wisdom and faith.
One of the earliest known references to the name Danail comes from the 10th century "Bitolski Prilog," a collection of medieval Bulgarian manuscripts. These manuscripts contain several mentions of individuals bearing the name Danail, suggesting its widespread use during that period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Danail. One of the most prominent was Danail Nikolov (1838-1911), a Bulgarian revolutionary, writer, and teacher who played a significant role in the struggle for national liberation from Ottoman rule. Another notable bearer of the name was Danail Khrabur (1785-1824), a Bulgarian hajduk (rebel) and leader of the Sliven uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
In the realm of arts and literature, the name Danail is associated with Danail Nikolaev (1906-1985), a renowned Bulgarian painter and portraitist. His works are celebrated for their realistic depictions of everyday life and people in Bulgaria.
The name Danail has also been carried by religious figures, such as Danail Konev (1924-2005), a Bulgarian Orthodox bishop and Metropolitan of Vidin. He served as the head of the Vidin Eparchy from 1983 until his death in 2005.
While the name Danail has been predominantly used in Bulgaria, it has also found usage in other Slavic countries, such as Russia and Serbia, although to a lesser extent. The name's biblical roots and historical significance in Bulgarian culture have contributed to its enduring popularity in the region.
People
Danail + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danail 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
Danail: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danail?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danail 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 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Danail a common name?
We classify Danail as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danail most popular?
The single biggest year for Danail was 1954, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danail is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Danail in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 167 people with the name Danail, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,759 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Danail in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Danail?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danail leans strongly male. 150 people counted with this name were male (89.3%), compared with 18 female bearers (10.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Danail?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danail is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Black (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Danail most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Danail in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.1% (122 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Danail in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Danail a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Danail 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.
Is Danail still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Danail in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Danail can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are named Danail?
Want to know how many people share the name Danail? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.