Darice
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Greek meaning "gift".
Name Census estimates that about 1,123 living Americans carry the first name Darice. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Darice today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darice births was 1955 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darice. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 305,213 Americans
Peak year
1955
52 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
1994 SSA rank
#4,209
Tracked since 1947
Census
Darice in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,187 people with the first name Darice, which placed it at #10,982 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,982
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,187 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darice
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darice is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Darice described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Darice at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.2% · 620
- Black or African American31.8% · 378
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 56
- Two or more races4.5% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Darice
Out of the 1,346 babies given the name Darice since 1880, 99.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Darice as a male name
- Ranked #7,116 in 1994
- 7 male births in 1994
- Peak: 1994 (7 births)
Darice as a female name
- Ranked #4,209 in 2023
- 34 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1955 (52 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darice leans strongly female. 1,134 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 52 male bearers (4.4%).
Popularity
Darice: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darice from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 368 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darice 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 Darice during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darices live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Illinois, California, New York recorded the most babies named Darice, while Texas, Hawaii, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darice
The name Darice is believed to have its origins in the ancient Persian language. It is derived from the Old Persian word "dārā," which means "possessor" or "holder." The name was popular among the ancient Persians, particularly during the Achaemenid Empire, which ruled from 550 BC to 330 BC.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Darice can be found in the Behistun Inscription, a multi-lingual inscription carved on the sacred mountain of Behistun in present-day Iran. The inscription, dating back to around 520 BC, was commissioned by King Darius the Great and mentions several individuals with the name Darice.
Throughout ancient Persian history, the name Darice was borne by several notable figures. One such individual was Darice, the daughter of King Darius I and Queen Atossa. She was married to her brother Xerxes I, who succeeded their father as the king of the Achaemenid Empire.
In the realm of Greek mythology, there is a reference to a figure named Darice, who was a nymph associated with the goddess Artemis. This connection to Greek mythology suggests that the name may have been adopted by the ancient Greeks and used within their cultures as well.
During the medieval period, the name Darice appeared in various Persian literary works and historical accounts. One notable example is the epic poem "Shahnameh" (Book of Kings) by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi, which includes characters bearing the name Darice.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Darice. One such person was Darice of Persia (c. 550 BC - 490 BC), a Persian princess and daughter of King Cyrus the Great. Another was Darice of Parthia (c. 50 BC - 10 AD), a Parthian princess and member of the Arsacid dynasty.
In the realm of literature, one of the most famous figures with the name Darice was the Persian poet Darice Kermani (1292 - 1354 AD), known for her contributions to the literary tradition of medieval Persia.
Other notable individuals with the name Darice include Darice Armanazi (1720 - 1783), an Armenian writer and philosopher, and Darice Mirkhond (1445 - 1498), a Persian historian and author of the influential work "Rawzat al-Safa."
People
Darice + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darice 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
Darice: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darice?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darice 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 305,213 US residents.
Is Darice a common name?
We classify Darice as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,346 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darice most popular?
The single biggest year for Darice was 1955, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darice is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darice in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,187 people with the name Darice, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,982 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Darice in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Darice?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darice leans strongly female. 1,134 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 52 male bearers (4.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Darice?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darice is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Hispanic (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Darice most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darice in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (620 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Darice in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darice a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Darice 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.
Is Darice still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darice 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 Darice 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.
How common is the name Darice?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.