Darolyn
A feminine name derived from the combination of French words "doux" and "lys", meaning "sweet lily".
Name Census estimates that about 205 living Americans carry the first name Darolyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Darolyn today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darolyn births was 1958 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darolyn. 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
205
~ 1 in 1,671,972 Americans
Peak year
1958
14 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2014 SSA rank
#17,205
Tracked since 1938
Census
Darolyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 293 people with the first name Darolyn, which placed it at #29,959 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
#29,959
National first-name rank
People counted
293
293 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darolyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darolyn is White at 46.4%. The next largest groups are Black (30.7%) and Hispanic (14.0%). 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 Darolyn 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 Darolyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.4% · 136
- Black or African American30.7% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino14.0% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 15
- Two or more races3.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Darolyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darolyn from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 88 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
Darolyn 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 Darolyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darolyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Darolyn
The given name Darolyn is believed to have its roots in the ancient Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the first millennium BC. It is thought to be a variation of the Hebrew name Dara, meaning "pearl" or "precious stone," combined with the suffix "-lyn," which is of Celtic origin and signifies "small" or "diminutive."
This unique blend of Aramaic and Celtic elements suggests that the name Darolyn may have emerged as a result of cultural exchanges between the Semitic and Celtic peoples, possibly during the time of the Roman Empire's expansion into the Middle East and Europe. However, there is no definitive historical record of the name's earliest usage or its exact origins.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Darolyn can be found in a 12th-century manuscript from the Benedictine monastery of St. Gall in modern-day Switzerland. The manuscript mentions a nun named Darolyn, who served as a scribe and illuminator of religious texts. Unfortunately, no further details about her life or the significance of her name are provided.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Darolyn. One such figure was Darolyn Sutherland (1886-1974), a Scottish suffragette and activist who campaigned tirelessly for women's rights in the early 20th century. Another was Darolyn Staton (1921-2002), an American singer and actress who performed on Broadway and in several Hollywood films during the 1940s and 1950s.
In the realm of literature, Darolyn Thibodeaux (1938-2012) was a celebrated American poet and author, known for her poignant works exploring themes of identity, family, and the human experience. Her collection "The Shawls of Azrael" received critical acclaim and numerous literary awards.
The world of science has also seen its share of notable individuals named Darolyn. Darolyn Vickers (1927-2018) was a pioneering British chemist who made significant contributions to the understanding of molecular structures and their applications in various fields, including pharmaceuticals and materials science.
Finally, in the field of athletics, Darolyn Bryant (1952-2020) was a legendary American basketball player who helped pave the way for women's professional sports. She was a member of the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and was renowned for her exceptional skill and determination on the court.
People
Darolyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darolyn 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
Darolyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darolyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 205 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darolyn 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 1,671,972 US residents.
Is Darolyn a common name?
We classify Darolyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 283 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darolyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Darolyn was 1958, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darolyn is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darolyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 293 people with the name Darolyn, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,959 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 Darolyn 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 Darolyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darolyn leans strongly female. 288 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Darolyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darolyn is White at 46.4%. The next largest groups are Black (30.7%) and Hispanic (14.0%). 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 Darolyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darolyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.4% (136 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 Darolyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darolyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darolyn 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 Darolyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darolyn 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 Darolyn 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 share the name Darolyn?
You can see how many Americans are named Darolyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.