Find out how popular the last name Daniel is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Daniel.

Daniel, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Daniel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Daniel in America

Daniel is the 396th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Daniel surname appeared 80,526 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 27 people would have the surname Daniel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Daniel to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Daniel

The surname Daniel is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" in Hebrew. The name Daniel has been in use for thousands of years, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 6th century BC.

The surname Daniel is believed to have originated in ancient Israel, where it was initially borne by members of the Hebrew tribe of Judah. As the Jewish diaspora spread throughout the Mediterranean region and Europe in the centuries that followed, the name Daniel was carried along with them, eventually becoming a common surname in various parts of the world.

In medieval times, the surname Daniel was particularly prevalent in Germany, France, and England. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in England can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which lists several individuals with the surname Daniel or similar spellings, such as Daniiel and Danihel.

Throughout history, there have been many notable individuals who bore the surname Daniel. One of the earliest was Samuel Daniel, an English poet and historian who lived from 1562 to 1619. Another notable figure was John Daniel, a British naval officer and explorer who was born in 1646 and served as the governor of the British East India Company's settlement in Bombay (now Mumbai) from 1681 to 1689.

In the 19th century, John Frederick Daniel (1815-1884) was a prominent British geologist and mineralogist, while John Reginald Daniel (1888-1967) was a British archaeologist and historian who made significant contributions to the study of ancient civilizations in South Asia.

Moving into the 20th century, Arnaud Daniel (1913-1988) was a French novelist and essayist who won the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1970 for his novel L'Été anglais. Another notable figure was Yusuf Daniel (1914-1994), an Indian playwright, actor, and director who was a pioneer of modern Urdu theatre.

These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the surname Daniel, which has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture and has been carried across continents and centuries, becoming a prominent surname in various parts of the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Daniel

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Daniel.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Daniel was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Daniel has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Daniel was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Daniel, please contact us.

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