Durel
Variant of Durell, derived from the French d'Ureill, meaning "from Ureill."
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Durel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Durel today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Durel births was 1985 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Durel. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Durel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1985
10 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,252
Tracked since 1950
Census
Durel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 117 people with the first name Durel, which placed it at #50,838 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
#50,838
National first-name rank
People counted
117
117 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Durel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Durel is Black at 52.1%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Durel 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 Durel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.1% · 61
- White39.3% · 46
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 3
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
Popularity
Durel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Durel from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 21 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Durel 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 Durel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Durel
The given name Durel has its origins in the ancient Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the first millennium BCE. The name is derived from the word "dur," meaning "dwelling" or "abode," and is believed to signify a person's connection to their homeland or place of birth.
In the earliest known records, the name Durel appears in various ancient texts and inscriptions from the region of Mesopotamia, particularly in areas that are now part of modern-day Iraq and Syria. These mentions date back to the 6th century BCE and suggest that the name was in use among the Aramaic-speaking populations of the time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Durel was a prominent merchant and trader who lived in the city of Palmyra, located in present-day Syria, during the 2nd century CE. This Durel is mentioned in several historical accounts as a influential figure in the region's commercial activities, facilitating trade routes between the Roman Empire and the Eastern civilizations.
In the 5th century CE, a scholar and philosopher named Durel ben Zakkai gained recognition for his contributions to the study of Aramaic literature and Jewish mysticism. His writings and teachings were influential in the development of early Kabbalah, and he is often cited as a key figure in the preservation of Aramaic language and culture.
During the Islamic Golden Age, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th centuries, a renowned mathematician and astronomer named Durel al-Qazwini made significant advancements in the fields of geometry and celestial mechanics. His works, which included treatises on trigonometry and the movement of celestial bodies, were widely studied and referenced by scholars across the Islamic world.
In the 11th century, a prominent Sufi mystic and poet known as Durel al-Din Rumi gained widespread recognition for his spiritual teachings and literary works, which remain influential to this day. His poetic masterpiece, the Masnavi, is considered one of the greatest works of Persian literature and has been translated into numerous languages.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Durel, each leaving a lasting impact in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Durel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Durel 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
Durel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Durel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Durel 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Durel a common name?
We classify Durel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 31 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Durel most popular?
The single biggest year for Durel was 1985, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Durel is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Durel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 117 people with the name Durel, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,838 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 Durel 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 Durel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Durel leans strongly male. 105 people counted with this name were male (86.1%), compared with 17 female bearers (13.9%). 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 Durel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Durel is Black at 52.1%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Durel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Durel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.1% (61 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 Durel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Durel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Durel 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 Durel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Durel 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 Durel 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 Durel as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.