Dantley
Of uncertain origin, a masculine name possibly derived from Old English elements.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Dantley. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dantley today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dantley births was 1988 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dantley. 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 Dantley. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1988
5 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
1988 SSA rank
#7,521
Tracked since 1988
Popularity
Dantley: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Dantley 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 Dantley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Dantley
The name Dantley is an uncommon given name with an obscure origin. It is not found in traditional naming dictionaries or records from major world cultures and languages. Some speculate that it may be a variant or anglicized form of the French name Danté, which is derived from the Italian name Dante, meaning "enduring" or "lasting."
One of the earliest known uses of the name Dantley appears in 18th century court records from the British colony of Virginia, referring to an indentured servant or slave with that name. This suggests it may have originated as a name given to enslaved Africans by Anglo-American settlers, potentially inspired by the famous Italian poet Dante Alighieri.
In the 19th century, a few individuals named Dantley are recorded in census records from the American South, indicating it remained an extremely rare name used predominately within certain African American communities. One notable bearer was Dantley Barclay (1825-1896), a former slave who became a successful businessman and landowner in Mississippi after emancipation.
The 20th century saw several high-profile individuals with the first name Dantley. Dantley Walker (1909-1998) was an African American jazz drummer and bandleader active in the 1930s-1950s. Dantley Barnes (1914-1983) was a Trinidadian cricketer who played Test cricket for the West Indies in the late 1940s. Dantley Cox (1921-2003) was an American basketball player and coach at several colleges.
Perhaps the most famous bearer of the name was Adrian Dantley (born 1956), a retired American professional basketball player. A standout at the University of Notre Dame, he went on to a successful NBA career spanning 15 seasons, primarily with the Utah Jazz. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
People
Dantley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dantley 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
Dantley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dantley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dantley 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Dantley a common name?
We classify Dantley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dantley most popular?
The single biggest year for Dantley was 1988, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dantley is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Dantley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dantley a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dantley 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 Dantley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dantley 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 Dantley 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Dantley?
See how many people have the name Dantley on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.