Daney
A masculine given name with unknown origins or meanings.
Name Census estimates that about 84 living Americans carry the first name Daney. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Daney today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daney births was 1994 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daney. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Daney. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
84
~ 1 in 4,080,409 Americans
Peak year
1994
9 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
1955 SSA rank
#3,578
Tracked since 1947
Census
Daney in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 270 people with the first name Daney, which placed it at #31,633 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
#31,633
National first-name rank
People counted
270
270 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
47.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daney
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daney is Hispanic at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.1%) and Black (11.9%). 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 Daney 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 Daney at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino47.4% · 128
- White31.1% · 84
- Black or African American11.9% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 15
- Two or more races3.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Daney
Daney leans heavily female at 87.5% of total registrations, but 11 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Daney as a male name
- Ranked #3,578 in 1955
- 6 male births in 1955
- Peak: 1955 (6 births)
Daney as a female name
- Ranked #15,863 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1994 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Daney on both sides of the split. Of the 269 people counted with this name, 100 were male (37.2%) and 169 were female (62.8%).
Popularity
Daney: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daney from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 33 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daney 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 Daney during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daney
The name Daney has its origins in the ancient Celtic languages, where it was derived from the word "dana," which means "wise" or "learned." This name first emerged in the regions of modern-day Ireland and Scotland during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 7th centuries CE.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Daney can be found in the Irish annals, where it was mentioned as the name of a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 7th century. This individual, known as Daney of Inishcaltra, was celebrated for his contributions to the preservation of Celtic literature and oral traditions.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Daney was particularly popular among the scholarly and monastic communities of Ireland and Scotland. It was often bestowed upon individuals who demonstrated a deep commitment to learning and the pursuit of knowledge.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Daney was Daney MacCulloch, a Scottish philosopher and theologian who lived in the 16th century (1521-1597). MacCulloch was highly influential in the Protestant Reformation movement and played a significant role in shaping the intellectual and religious landscape of his time.
In the 17th century, Daney O'Malley (1620-1698) was a renowned Irish poet and musician who gained recognition for his skillful compositions and contributions to the preservation of traditional Celtic music and literature.
Moving into the 18th century, Daney O'Doherty (1715-1785) was an Irish historian and scholar who authored several important works on the history and culture of Ireland. His writings provided valuable insights into the lives and traditions of the Irish people during this period.
Another notable figure bearing the name Daney was Daney McDonnell (1860-1935), a Scottish-born Australian politician and labor activist who played a pivotal role in the early labor movement and the fight for workers' rights in Australia.
While the name Daney has its roots in Celtic culture, it has since spread to various parts of the world, carried by individuals of Irish and Scottish descent. However, its historical significance and associations with wisdom, learning, and scholarly pursuits continue to be reflected in its meaning and legacy.
People
Daney + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daney 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
Daney: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daney?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 84 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daney 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 4,080,409 US residents.
Is Daney a common name?
We classify Daney as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 88 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daney most popular?
The single biggest year for Daney was 1994, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daney is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daney in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 270 people with the name Daney, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,633 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 Daney 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 Daney?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Daney on both sides of the split. Of the 269 people counted with this name, 100 were male (37.2%) and 169 were female (62.8%). 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 Daney?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daney is Hispanic at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.1%) and Black (11.9%). 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 Daney most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Daney in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.4% (128 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 Daney in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daney a female name?
Yes, 87.5% of people registered as Daney in the SSA data are female. 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 Daney still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daney 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 Daney 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 Daney?
Find out how many Americans are named Daney on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.