Danyal
An Arabic name derived from the biblical prophet Daniel, meaning "God is my judge".
Name Census estimates that about 751 living Americans carry the first name Danyal. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Danyal today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danyal births was 2002 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danyal. 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
- • Danyal was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
751
~ 1 in 456,397 Americans
Peak year
2002
28 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,207
Tracked since 1972
Gender
Gender distribution for Danyal
Danyal is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 773 total registrations, 597 (77.2%) were male and 176 (22.8%) were female.
Danyal as a male name
- Ranked #4,207 in 2024
- 25 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (28 births)
Danyal as a female name
- Ranked #10,863 in 1993
- 7 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1975 (22 births)
Popularity
Danyal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danyal from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 191 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Danyal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Danyal 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 Danyal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Danyals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Danyal, while Texas, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Danyal
The name Danyal has its origins in Arabic and is derived from the Hebrew name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" or "God has judged me". The name gained popularity during the 6th century BC when the Prophet Daniel lived in Babylon during the Jewish exile.
The Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible contains stories of Daniel's life and experiences as a Jewish exile in Babylon. The book is a significant part of both Jewish and Christian religious traditions, contributing to the widespread use of the name Daniel and its variations, including Danyal.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Danyal can be found in the 9th century when Danyal al-Rahawi, a Persian physician and philosopher, lived in Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate. He made significant contributions to the fields of medicine and philosophy.
In the 12th century, Danyal al-Adib, an Arab scholar and poet from Damascus, gained recognition for his literary works and his expertise in Arabic language and literature.
During the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Danyal ibn Ibrahim al-Akbar, a Sufi mystic and philosopher from Persia, became known for his influential writings on Islamic mysticism and spirituality.
In the 16th century, Danyal Mirza, a Persian prince and governor of Shiraz during the Safavid dynasty, was renowned for his patronage of arts and literature, attracting many scholars and artists to his court.
Another notable figure was Danyal Beg, a 17th-century Mughal nobleman and military commander who served under Emperor Aurangzeb and played a crucial role in the Mughal conquest of the Deccan region in India.
People
Danyal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danyal 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
Danyal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danyal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 751 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danyal 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 456,397 US residents.
Is Danyal a common name?
We classify Danyal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 773 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danyal most popular?
The single biggest year for Danyal was 2002, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danyal is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Danyal a male name?
Yes, 77.2% of people registered as Danyal 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.