Dannell
Of English origin, a variation of the masculine name Daniel, meaning "God is my judge".
Name Census estimates that about 339 living Americans carry the first name Dannell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 62.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Dannell today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dannell births was 1973 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dannell. 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
339
~ 1 in 1,011,075 Americans
Peak year
1973
25 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2008 SSA rank
#12,932
Tracked since 1955
Gender
Gender distribution for Dannell
Dannell is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 376 total registrations, 142 (37.8%) were male and 234 (62.2%) were female.
Dannell as a male name
- Ranked #12,932 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 1973 (9 births)
Dannell as a female name
- Ranked #13,469 in 1990
- 5 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1973 (16 births)
Popularity
Dannell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dannell from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 191 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dannell 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 Dannell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dannells live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dannell
The name Dannell has its origins in the Old English language, with roots tracing back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic words "dan" and "hild," which together mean "brave warrior." The name was popular among the Anglo-Saxon tribes of what is now England, particularly in the regions of Wessex and Mercia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dannell can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record compiled in the late 9th century. The chronicle mentions a nobleman named Dannell ealdorman, who served as a military commander during the reign of King Alfred the Great (849-899).
In the Middle Ages, the name Dannell gained association with religious figures. Saint Dannell of Brittany (c. 1050-1124) was a Benedictine monk and abbot who founded several monasteries in northwestern France. His life and miracles were recorded in the "Vita Sancti Dannelli," a hagiography written by a contemporary monk.
During the Renaissance, the name Dannell became popular among the educated classes in England. Dannell Bacon (1516-1579), a prominent English philosopher and statesman, served as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth I. His essays and writings on law, politics, and philosophy were widely influential.
In the 17th century, Dannell Defoe (1660-1731) was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, best known for his novel "Robinson Crusoe." Defoe was a prolific author who wrote on a wide range of topics, from politics and economics to satire and fiction.
Another notable figure with the name Dannell was Dannell O'Connell (1775-1847), an Irish political leader and statesman often referred to as "The Liberator." O'Connell played a crucial role in the campaign for Catholic Emancipation in Ireland and was a prominent figure in the Irish nationalist movement.
People
Dannell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dannell 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
Dannell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dannell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 339 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dannell 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 1,011,075 US residents.
Is Dannell a common name?
We classify Dannell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 376 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dannell most popular?
The single biggest year for Dannell was 1973, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dannell is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dannell a female name?
Yes, 62.2% of people registered as Dannell 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.
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.