Duaine
An Old Irish Gaelic name meaning "dark or swarthy one".
Name Census estimates that about 516 living Americans carry the first name Duaine. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Duaine today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Duaine births was 1932 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Duaine. 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 Duaine is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Duaines were born before 1967.
People living today
516
~ 1 in 664,253 Americans
Peak year
1932
35 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1996 SSA rank
#8,237
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Duaine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Duaine from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 271 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
Duaine 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 Duaine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Duaines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota recorded the most babies named Duaine, while North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Duaine
The name Duaine is an English variant of the Irish Gaelic name Duán, which originated in the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old Irish word "dúan," meaning a poem, ode, or chant. The name likely originated as a surname or descriptive name for someone associated with the composition or recitation of poetry.
In ancient Irish tradition, poets and bards held highly respected roles, and their names often reflected their craft. Duaine may have been a name bestowed upon a skilled poet or storyteller who composed beautiful verses and tales passed down through oral tradition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Duaine can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The annals mention a Duaine Ó Maoilchonaire, a poet and historian who lived in the 12th century and was renowned for his works on the genealogies of Irish clans.
Another notable figure bearing the name Duaine was Duaine Dromadoire, a 14th-century Irish poet and scholar from County Sligo. His surviving works include several religious poems and a commentary on the Brehon Laws, the ancient legal system of Ireland.
In the 16th century, a Duaine Mac an Bhaird is recorded as a renowned bardic poet from County Donegal. He was a member of the illustrious Mac an Bhaird family, a prominent lineage of poets and historians who served as the official bards to the O'Donnell clan.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Duaine Ó Bruadair was a celebrated Irish-language poet from County Limerick. His works, which often dealt with themes of love and nature, are considered among the finest examples of Gaelic poetry from the late Bardic period.
In more recent times, Duaine Olivier was a 20th-century South African author and playwright, best known for his novels and plays that explored the complexities of life in apartheid-era South Africa. He was born in 1925 and passed away in 1986.
While the name Duaine is relatively uncommon today, its historical significance and connections to the poetic traditions of ancient Ireland serve as a testament to the rich cultural heritage and reverence for the spoken and written word that has endured throughout the centuries.
People
Duaine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Duaine 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
Duaine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Duaine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 516 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Duaine 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 664,253 US residents.
Is Duaine a common name?
We classify Duaine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,052 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Duaine most popular?
The single biggest year for Duaine was 1932, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Duaine is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Duaine a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Duaine 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.
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.