Danniel
A masculine name derived from the Hebrew name Daniel, meaning "God is my judge".
Name Census estimates that about 2,225 living Americans carry the first name Danniel. It is a predominantly male name (92.8% of registrations). The average person named Danniel today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danniel births was 1959 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danniel. 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 Danniel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 154,047 Americans
Peak year
1959
51 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,981
Tracked since 1923
Census
Danniel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,480 people with the first name Danniel, which placed it at #9,390 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
#9,390
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,480 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Danniel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danniel is White at 45.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.1%) and Black (7.6%). 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 Danniel 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 Danniel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.3% · 671
- Hispanic or Latino37.1% · 549
- Black or African American7.6% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 90
- Two or more races3.0% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Danniel
Danniel leans heavily male at 92.8% of total registrations, but 186 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Danniel as a male name
- Ranked #11,196 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1959 (51 births)
Danniel as a female name
- Ranked #8,981 in 1996
- 9 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1976 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danniel leans strongly male. 1,253 people counted with this name were male (84.5%), compared with 229 female bearers (15.5%).
Popularity
Danniel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danniel from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 434 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Danniel 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 Danniel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Danniels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Michigan, Ohio recorded the most babies named Danniel, while Indiana, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Danniel
The name Danniel is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" or "God has judged". It is derived from the Hebrew words "din" meaning "to judge" and "el" referring to God. The name has its origins in the ancient Hebrew culture and can be traced back to the Old Testament of the Bible.
The name Daniel is first mentioned in the Book of Daniel, which tells the story of a young Hebrew man named Daniel who was taken into captivity in Babylon during the 6th century BC. Daniel's wisdom and prophetic abilities are depicted in the book, and he is portrayed as a righteous man who remained faithful to his God despite the challenges he faced in a foreign land.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Daniel was Daniel the Prophet, who lived during the 6th century BC. He is a significant figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and his book is included in the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament, and the Islamic Quran.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Daniel or its variant spellings, such as:
1. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), an English writer best known for his novel "Robinson Crusoe".
2. Daniel Boone (1734-1820), an American pioneer and explorer who helped settle the American frontier.
3. Daniel Webster (1782-1852), an American statesman and orator renowned for his speeches and political career.
4. Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), an Irish political leader and advocate for Catholic emancipation.
5. Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957), an English actor known for his method acting and acclaimed performances in films like "Lincoln" and "There Will Be Blood".
The name Danniel, with the alternative spelling, has been used throughout various cultures and time periods, although it is less common than the traditional spelling of Daniel. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its strong biblical roots and the significant historical figures who have carried this name.
People
Danniel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danniel 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
Danniel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danniel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,225 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danniel 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 154,047 US residents.
Is Danniel a common name?
We classify Danniel as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,595 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danniel most popular?
The single biggest year for Danniel was 1959, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danniel is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Danniel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,480 people with the name Danniel, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,390 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 Danniel 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 Danniel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danniel leans strongly male. 1,253 people counted with this name were male (84.5%), compared with 229 female bearers (15.5%). 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 Danniel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danniel is White at 45.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.1%) and Black (7.6%). 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 Danniel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Danniel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.3% (671 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 Danniel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Danniel a male name?
Yes, 92.8% of people registered as Danniel 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 Danniel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Danniel 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 Danniel 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 Danniel?
Want to know how many people share the name Danniel? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.