Daniyal
A masculine name of Biblical origin meaning "God is my judge".
Name Census estimates that about 786 living Americans carry the first name Daniyal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Daniyal today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daniyal births was 2010 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daniyal. 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 Daniyal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
786
~ 1 in 436,074 Americans
Peak year
2010
47 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,804
Tracked since 1991
Census
Daniyal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 848 people with the first name Daniyal, which placed it at #14,015 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
#14,015
National first-name rank
People counted
848
848 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daniyal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daniyal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 82.1%. The next largest groups are White (8.3%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Daniyal 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 Daniyal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander82.1% · 696
- White8.3% · 70
- Two or more races5.7% · 48
- Black or African American2.0% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Daniyal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daniyal from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 359 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Daniyal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daniyal 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 Daniyal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Daniyals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Daniyal, while New Jersey, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daniyal
The name Daniyal originates from the Hebrew language and is a variant of the name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" or "God has judged". The name has its roots in ancient Judaic culture, dating back to biblical times.
The name Daniyal is mentioned in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam, where it refers to the biblical prophet Daniel. In the Quran, Daniyal is portrayed as a wise and pious man who received revelations from God.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daniyal can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible, where Daniel is portrayed as a young Jewish captive in Babylon who interpreted dreams and visions. The Book of Daniel, which bears his name, is part of the Hebrew Bible and is also included in the Christian Old Testament.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Daniyal or its variants. One of the most famous is Daniyal Nayshapuri (1201-1284), a Persian poet and Sufi mystic who wrote extensively on spiritual themes.
Another prominent figure was Daniyal Shikoh (1572-1628), the eldest son of the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great. Daniyal Shikoh was a skilled military commander and governed various provinces of the Mughal Empire.
In the field of Islamic scholarship, Daniyal Noorani (1630-1701) was a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Iran who made significant contributions to the study of Islamic law and jurisprudence.
Moving to more recent times, Daniyal Mueenuddin (born 1963) is a Pakistani-American writer and author of the short story collection "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders", for which he received critical acclaim.
Daniyal Rahemtulla (born 1975) is a renowned Indian chef and restaurateur, known for his innovative fusion cuisine and for promoting sustainable and ethical food practices.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Daniyal throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Daniyal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daniyal 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
Daniyal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daniyal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 786 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daniyal 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 436,074 US residents.
Is Daniyal a common name?
We classify Daniyal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 794 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daniyal most popular?
The single biggest year for Daniyal was 2010, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daniyal is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daniyal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 848 people with the name Daniyal, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,015 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 Daniyal 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 Daniyal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daniyal leans strongly male. 845 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 9 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Daniyal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daniyal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 82.1%. The next largest groups are White (8.3%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Daniyal most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Daniyal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (696 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 Daniyal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daniyal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Daniyal 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 Daniyal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daniyal 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 Daniyal 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 Americans are named Daniyal?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.