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

Darien, 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 Darien surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Darien in America

Darien is the 61899th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Darien surname appeared 324 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Darien.

We can also compare 2010 data for Darien 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 Darien

The surname DARIEN originated from Scotland in the 16th century. It is derived from the place name Darien, which was an early spelling of the Darién region of Panama. This name was chosen by Scottish settlers who attempted to establish a colony there in 1698, known as the Darien scheme.

The Darien surname is believed to have first appeared in records associated with this failed colonization attempt. One of the earliest known bearers was William Paterson, a Scottish entrepreneur and one of the founders of the Bank of England, who was born in 1658 and died in 1719. He was a key figure in promoting and financing the Darien scheme.

Another notable early bearer of the surname was Walter Herries, a Scottish soldier and adventurer who served as a captain in the Darien expedition. He was born around 1670 and his experiences in the colony were documented in his book "A Defence of the Scots Settlement at Darien" published in 1700.

In the 18th century, the surname DARIEN was also borne by James Darier, a Scottish physician and dermatologist born in 1856. He is renowned for his work on the skin condition known as Darier's disease, which he first described in 1889.

A more recent bearer of the surname was Gordon Darien, a Canadian novelist and playwright born in 1917 and died in 1998. He is best known for his novel "The Footprints of a Thunderstorm" published in 1952, which explored themes of identity and belonging.

While the surname DARIEN is relatively uncommon, it has been carried by several notable figures throughout history, all with connections to the ill-fated Scottish colony in Panama or to the broader Scottish diaspora and cultural legacy.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Darien

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

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 Darien 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 Darien 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 Darien was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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