Darold
Combination of the names "Darius" and "Harold", meaning "sustainer" and "army ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 2,194 living Americans carry the first name Darold. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Darold today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darold births was 1932 (99 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darold. 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
2.2K
~ 1 in 156,223 Americans
Peak year
1932
99 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,948
Tracked since 1912
Census
Darold in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,225 people with the first name Darold, which placed it at #7,005 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
#7,005
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,225 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darold
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darold is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.2%). 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 Darold 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 Darold at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.7% · 1,707
- Black or African American15.6% · 348
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 48
- Two or more races2.0% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 28
Popularity
Darold: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darold from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 826 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darold 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 Darold during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darolds live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Minnesota, Iowa, California recorded the most babies named Darold, while Montana, Indiana, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 78 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Darold
The given name Darold has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the combination of two Old English words, "deor" meaning "beloved" and "eald" meaning "old" or "ancient." This suggests that the name Darold may have been given to a beloved child or a respected elder within the Anglo-Saxon communities of that era.
As the Anglo-Saxons migrated and settled across various regions of what is now England, the name Darold likely spread along with them. It is believed to have been particularly prevalent in the areas of Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria, which were major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms during the medieval period.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Darold can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record compiled in the late 9th century. The entry mentions a Darold who was a thegn (a noble attendant or servant) in the court of King Edward the Elder, who ruled from 899 to 924 AD.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Darold. One of the earliest was Darold of Saxony (c. 950 - 1022), a German nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the conflicts between the Holy Roman Empire and the Slavic tribes of the region.
Another historical figure was Darold the Scribe (c. 1120 - 1187), a monk and calligrapher who produced some of the most exquisite illuminated manuscripts of the 12th century. His works are now held in various museums and libraries across Europe.
In the 13th century, Darold of Flanders (c. 1220 - 1292) was a prominent Flemish merchant and diplomat who negotiated trade agreements between the County of Flanders and other European powers.
During the Renaissance period, Darold Piero (1446 - 1512) was an Italian painter and architect who worked in the Florentine style. His frescoes and architectural designs can still be admired in several churches and public buildings in Italy.
Lastly, Darold Gustavsson (1789 - 1871) was a Swedish explorer and cartographer who led expeditions to map the Arctic regions of Scandinavia and Russia in the early 19th century.
While the name Darold has become less common in modern times, its historical significance and linguistic roots serve as a testament to the rich cultural heritage of the Anglo-Saxon people and their influence on the English language.
People
Darold + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darold 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
Darold: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darold?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darold 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 156,223 US residents.
Is Darold a common name?
We classify Darold as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,195 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darold most popular?
The single biggest year for Darold was 1932, when 99 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darold is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darold in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,225 people with the name Darold, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,005 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 Darold 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 Darold?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darold appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,226 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Darold?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darold is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.2%). 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 Darold most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darold in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.7% (1,707 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 Darold in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darold a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darold 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.
Is Darold still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darold 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 Darold 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 have Darold as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.