Darrah
Feminine Arabic name meaning "wealth" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 769 living Americans carry the first name Darrah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Darrah today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Darrah births was 2004 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Darrah. 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
769
~ 1 in 445,714 Americans
Peak year
2004
42 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2020 SSA rank
#15,685
Tracked since 1942
Census
Darrah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 874 people with the first name Darrah, which placed it at #13,712 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
#13,712
National first-name rank
People counted
874
874 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darrah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darrah is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (17.7%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Darrah 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 Darrah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.6% · 608
- Black or African American17.7% · 155
- Two or more races5.7% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 5
Popularity
Darrah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Darrah from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 207 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Darrah 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 Darrah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Darrahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Darrah
The name Darrah is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, deriving from the word 'darrah' which means 'pearl' or 'gem'. This name first emerged in the Middle East and North Africa during the medieval period, when Arabic culture and language were widespread across these regions.
Historically, the name Darrah was often associated with beauty, purity, and rarity, reflecting the precious nature of pearls. It was a popular choice among Arab families, particularly those of higher social standing or nobility, who appreciated the name's elegant and refined connotations.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Darrah can be found in the writings of the renowned Arab poet and philosopher, Al-Mutanabbi (915-965 CE). In his collection of poems, he mentions a woman named Darrah, who was celebrated for her beauty and grace.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Darrah. One such person was Darrah al-Qazi (1248-1309 CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Baghdad, who made significant contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence.
Another prominent figure was Darrah al-Samawi (1570-1638 CE), an influential Arab mathematician and astronomer from Damascus. He is credited with advancing the study of celestial mechanics and introducing innovative techniques for calculating the positions of celestial bodies.
During the Ottoman Empire, Darrah al-Halabi (1690-1756 CE) was a renowned calligrapher and artist from Aleppo. Her intricate calligraphic works and illuminated manuscripts were highly sought after by the Ottoman elite and are now preserved in museums around the world.
In the 19th century, Darrah al-Khatib (1820-1891 CE) was a prominent Syrian poet and writer who played a significant role in the Arab literary renaissance. His poetic works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, earning him widespread acclaim across the Arab world.
More recently, Darrah Abdelbaqi (1933-2021 CE) was an acclaimed Egyptian actress and singer who captivated audiences with her talent and versatility. She starred in numerous films and television series, becoming a beloved cultural icon in the Arab world.
People
Darrah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Darrah 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
Darrah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Darrah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 769 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Darrah 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 445,714 US residents.
Is Darrah a common name?
We classify Darrah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 820 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Darrah most popular?
The single biggest year for Darrah was 2004, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Darrah is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Darrah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 874 people with the name Darrah, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,712 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 Darrah 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 Darrah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Darrah leans strongly female. 813 people counted with this name were female (92.4%), compared with 67 male bearers (7.6%). 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 Darrah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Darrah is White at 69.6%. The next largest groups are Black (17.7%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Darrah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Darrah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.6% (608 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 Darrah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Darrah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Darrah 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 Darrah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Darrah 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 Darrah 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 Americans are named Darrah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.