Duane
Of English origin, a variant of a Welsh name meaning "dark", "brown".
Name Census estimates that about 73,786 living Americans carry the first name Duane. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Duane today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Duane births was 1959 (2,979 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Duane. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Duane with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Duane is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,014 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Duane have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
74K
~ 1 in 4,645 Americans
Peak year
1959
2,979 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,073
Tracked since 1885
Census
Duane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 71,876 people with the first name Duane, which placed it at #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
#712
National first-name rank
People counted
72K
71,876 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
23.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Duane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Duane is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Duane 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 Duane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.8% · 58,759
- Black or African American11.3% · 8,154
- Two or more races2.5% · 1,811
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 1,387
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 985
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 780
Gender
Gender distribution for Duane
Out of the 116,398 babies given the name Duane since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Duane as a male name
- Ranked #2,073 in 2024
- 72 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1959 (2,966 births)
Duane as a female name
- Ranked #11,232 in 1989
- 6 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1937 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Duane appears almost entirely male. Of the 71,865 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Duane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Duane from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 24,271 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
Duane 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 Duane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Duanes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Michigan, Minnesota, California recorded the most babies named Duane, while Rhode Island, Nevada, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,177 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Duane
The name Duane originated from the Old Irish Gaelic word "dubhan", which means "little dark one" or "little black one". It is derived from the word "dubh", meaning "black" or "dark". The name first appeared in Ireland as early as the 5th century AD, during the time of the ancient Celts and the spread of Christianity in the region.
Duane was a common name among the Irish and Scottish Gaels throughout the Middle Ages. It was often associated with individuals with dark hair or complexions. The name was also sometimes spelled as "Duana" or "Duana" in early records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Duane can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a man named Duane mac Fiachna, who was a king of Dál Riata (a medieval Scottish kingdom) in the late 6th century.
In the 9th century, a famous Irish monk and scholar named Duane Dál Máil Thuile wrote several religious texts and commentaries on the Bible. He was renowned for his knowledge of Latin and Greek, and his works were widely studied in medieval monasteries.
During the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century, a notable figure named Duane O'Conor led the resistance against the English forces in Connacht. He was a descendant of the ancient high kings of Ireland and fought bravely to defend his lands until his death in 1168.
In the 16th century, a Scottish nobleman named Duane Stewart was known for his loyalty to Mary, Queen of Scots. He was a member of her privy council and played a significant role in the Scottish Reformation.
Another notable figure with the name Duane was an Irish poet and soldier named Duane Mac an Bhaird, who lived in the 17th century. He composed several poems and ballads that celebrated Irish culture and resistance against English rule.
People
Duane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Duane 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
Duane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Duane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 73,786 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Duane 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 4,645 US residents.
Is Duane a common name?
We classify Duane as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 116,398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Duane most popular?
The single biggest year for Duane was 1959, when 2,979 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Duane is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Duane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 71,876 people with the name Duane, or 23.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #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 Duane 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 Duane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Duane appears almost entirely male. Of the 71,865 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Duane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Duane is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (11.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Duane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Duane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.8% (58,759 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 Duane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Duane a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Duane 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 Duane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Duane 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 Duane 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 common is the name Duane?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Duane at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.