Danton
Of French origin, it means "from the valley town".
Name Census estimates that about 524 living Americans carry the first name Danton. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Danton today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danton births was 1989 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danton. 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
524
~ 1 in 654,111 Americans
Peak year
1989
21 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,747
Tracked since 1944
Popularity
Danton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danton from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 126 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Danton 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 Danton 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 Danton
The name Danton is of French origin and is derived from the Old French name "d'Anton", which means "from Antone". Antone was a medieval form of the Roman name Antonius, which was derived from the Roman family name Antonius.
Danton was originally a surname that became used as a given name in France during the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Danton is from the 13th century, when it was used as a surname by a family in the region of Artois, which is now part of northern France.
In the 16th century, the name Danton gained prominence due to the French lawyer and revolutionary leader Georges Jacques Danton (1759-1794). Danton was one of the leading figures of the French Revolution and was known for his fiery oratory and his advocacy for the rights of the common people.
Another notable figure with the name Danton was the French writer and philosopher Danton Remillet (1638-1711). Remillet was a member of the Académie Française and is best known for his works on philosophy and ethics.
In the 19th century, the name Danton was also used by the French painter Danton Lécuyer (1822-1892). Lécuyer was a prominent figure in the Realist movement and is known for his paintings of rural life in France.
Another notable Danton was the French politician and diplomat Danton Cabanel (1846-1921). Cabanel served as the French ambassador to several countries and played a key role in the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.
Finally, the name Danton was also used by the French poet and novelist Danton Vidal (1900-1976). Vidal was a member of the Surrealist movement and is known for his experimental style and his exploration of themes of love, death, and the human condition.
People
Danton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danton 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
Danton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 524 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danton 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 654,111 US residents.
Is Danton a common name?
We classify Danton as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 570 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danton most popular?
The single biggest year for Danton was 1989, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danton is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Danton a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Danton 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.
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.