Darcelle
A feminine name derived from the French word "dard", meaning arrow or dart.
Name Census estimates that about 296 living Americans carry the first name Darcelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Darcelle today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darcelle births was 1953 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darcelle. 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
296
~ 1 in 1,157,954 Americans
Peak year
1953
22 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1988 SSA rank
#7,251
Tracked since 1952
Popularity
Darcelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darcelle from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 120 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Darcelle remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darcelle 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 Darcelle 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 Darcelle
The name Darcelle is believed to have originated from the French language, with its roots potentially dating back to the Middle Ages. It is thought to be a feminine form derived from the Old French name Darcy or Darcis, which itself may have evolved from the Latin name Dardanus or the Greek name Dardanos.
One possible origin of Darcelle could be traced back to the ancient city of Dardanus, located in the region of Troad in what is now northwestern Turkey. According to Greek mythology, Dardanus was a son of Zeus and the founder of the city, which later gave its name to the Dardanelles Strait and the Dardanian kingdom.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Darcelle are found in French historical records from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance period. One notable bearer of the name was Darcelle de Roche, a 15th-century French noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Brittany.
In the 17th century, Darcelle Gilberte was a French actress and comedian who performed in Paris and is mentioned in several contemporary accounts of the Parisian theater scene.
During the 18th century, Darcelle Delaunay was a French painter and portraitist active in the court of King Louis XV. Her works can be found in several prestigious art collections across Europe.
In the 19th century, Darcelle Marin was a French writer and journalist who contributed to various Parisian publications and was known for her literary salons attended by prominent figures of the time.
Another historical figure with the name Darcelle was Darcelle Duval, a French opera singer and soprano who performed in major opera houses across Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Darcelle has its roots in French culture and history, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in regions with French cultural influence or connections.
People
Darcelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darcelle 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
Darcelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darcelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 296 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darcelle 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 1,157,954 US residents.
Is Darcelle a common name?
We classify Darcelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 361 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darcelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Darcelle was 1953, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darcelle is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Darcelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darcelle 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.