Daphane
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "laurel tree".
Name Census estimates that about 418 living Americans carry the first name Daphane. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Daphane today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daphane births was 1962 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daphane. 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
418
~ 1 in 819,986 Americans
Peak year
1962
27 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2008 SSA rank
#15,879
Tracked since 1924
Popularity
Daphane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daphane from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 150 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daphane 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 Daphane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Daphanes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Daphane
The name Daphane is derived from the Greek word "daphne," which means "laurel tree." The laurel tree was sacred to the ancient Greeks and was associated with honor, victory, and poetic inspiration. The name has its roots in Greek mythology and literature.
In Greek mythology, Daphne was a naiad (a type of nymph) who was pursued by the god Apollo. To escape his unwanted advances, she transformed into a laurel tree. This story is recounted in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," a famous collection of mythological stories written in the 1st century AD.
The earliest recorded use of the name Daphane can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was a relatively common name for women. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Daphane of Cyzicus, a Greek woman who lived in the 5th century BC and was famous for her skill in weaving.
In the 3rd century BC, there was a Greek philosopher and mathematician named Daphne of Cyzicus, who is known for her contributions to the field of geometry. She is believed to have lived in the city of Cyzicus, located in what is now modern-day Turkey.
During the Byzantine era, there was a famous saint named Daphne of Constantinople, who lived in the 9th century AD. She was born into a wealthy family and later became a nun, known for her piety and charitable works.
Another notable individual with the name Daphane was Daphne du Maurier, a British author and playwright who lived from 1907 to 1989. She is best known for her novel "Rebecca," which was adapted into a famous film by Alfred Hitchcock.
In the world of classical music, there was a Greek soprano named Daphne Evangelatou, who was born in 1950 and gained international recognition for her performances in operas by composers such as Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini.
People
Daphane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daphane 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
Daphane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daphane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daphane 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 819,986 US residents.
Is Daphane a common name?
We classify Daphane as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 487 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daphane most popular?
The single biggest year for Daphane was 1962, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daphane is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Daphane a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Daphane 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.