Darlean
A feminine name derived from a combination of Darla and Irene.
Name Census estimates that about 541 living Americans carry the first name Darlean. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Darlean today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darlean births was 1958 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darlean. 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
- • The typical person named Darlean is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Darleans were born before 1969.
People living today
541
~ 1 in 633,557 Americans
Peak year
1958
47 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1979 SSA rank
#10,556
Tracked since 1921
Census
Darlean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 560 people with the first name Darlean, which placed it at #19,065 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
#19,065
National first-name rank
People counted
560
560 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darlean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darlean is Black at 56.1%. The next largest groups are White (36.8%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Darlean 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 Darlean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.1% · 314
- White36.8% · 206
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 21
- Two or more races3.0% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Darlean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darlean from the 1920s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 272 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
Darlean 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 Darlean during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darleans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Darlean, while Illinois, California, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darlean
The name Darlean is a relatively modern name that emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century. It is likely a combination of the names Darla and Arlene, both of which have distinct origins. The name Darla is believed to be a diminutive form of the name Darleen, which itself is a variant of the name Darlene. Darlene is thought to be derived from the French name Arline, which comes from the Old German name Arlin or Erling.
The name Arlene, on the other hand, is believed to have originated from the Old French name Arlin or Arlind, which in turn can be traced back to the Old German name Arlin or Erling. The name Erling is comprised of two elements: "ari" meaning "eagle" and "ling" meaning "descendant" or "belonging to." Thus, the name Arlene may have originally meant "descendant of the eagle" or "belonging to the eagle."
While there are no recorded instances of the name Darlean appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some of the earliest recorded examples of the name can be found in census records and birth registries from the early 20th century in the United States and Canada.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Darlean was Darlean Humphreys, an American actress born in 1930. She had a brief career in Hollywood during the 1950s, appearing in a few films and television shows.
Another notable figure with the name Darlean was Darlean Fluker, an American civil rights activist and educator born in 1933. She was involved in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and worked to improve educational opportunities for African Americans.
In the field of literature, Darlean Unfried was an American author and poet born in 1941. She published several collections of poetry and was known for her works exploring themes of identity and social issues.
Darlean Cooley, born in 1945, was an American politician who served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003.
Lastly, Darlean Siegel, born in 1949, was an American artist and sculptor known for her abstract works and installations. Her pieces were exhibited in various galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Darlean is not as common as some other names, it has a unique history and has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions throughout the 20th century.
People
Darlean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darlean 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
Darlean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darlean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 541 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darlean 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 633,557 US residents.
Is Darlean a common name?
We classify Darlean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 884 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darlean most popular?
The single biggest year for Darlean was 1958, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darlean is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darlean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 560 people with the name Darlean, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,065 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 Darlean 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 Darlean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darlean appears almost entirely female. Of the 563 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Darlean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darlean is Black at 56.1%. The next largest groups are White (36.8%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Darlean most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Darlean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.1% (314 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 Darlean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darlean a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darlean 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 Darlean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darlean 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 Darlean 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 many people are called Darlean?
Find out how many Americans are named Darlean on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.