2000
#149,328
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 101
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Darus
An Australian Aboriginal surname potentially meaning "dwarf" or "dweller in the lowlands".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Darus. That puts it at #154,755 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,929,524 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Darus surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
117
1 in 2,929,524
Census rank
#154,755
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
102
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 102 bearers of the surname Darus in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154755th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Darus, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Darus
The surname DARUS has its origins in the Greek language and can be traced back to the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century AD. It is believed to have been derived from the Greek word "daros," which means "gift" or "present." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who was considered a valuable gift or had a generous nature.
In its earliest recorded instances, the name was spelled as "Daros" or "Darros" in Byzantine Greek manuscripts. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in a document from the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople, dated around 850 AD, which mentions a monk named Petros Daros.
As the Byzantine Empire expanded and its influence spread across the Mediterranean region, the name DARUS likely traveled with Greek settlers and merchants to various parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. Over time, the spelling evolved, with the "u" replacing the second "o" or "os" in some regions.
In the 12th century, the name DARUS appears in records from the Republic of Venice, where a merchant named Marco Darus is mentioned in a trade document from 1174. This suggests that the name had spread to the Italian peninsula and may have been adopted by Italian families with Greek roots or connections to the Byzantine Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name DARUS in Western Europe can be found in the Domesday Book, a record of landowners in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The book mentions a landowner named Radulfus Darus in the county of Hertfordshire.
In the 14th century, a notable figure bearing the name DARUS was Georgios Darus, a Byzantine scholar and philosopher who lived between 1320 and 1390. He was renowned for his works on logic and metaphysics, and his writings were widely studied in the Byzantine Empire and beyond.
Another prominent individual with the surname DARUS was Petros Darus, a Greek Renaissance painter and iconographer who lived in the 16th century. He was known for his religious paintings and frescoes, many of which can still be found in churches and monasteries across Greece and the Balkans.
In the 19th century, a British explorer and naturalist named Charles Darus gained recognition for his expeditions to South America and the Amazon basin. He was born in 1812 and is credited with discovering and documenting several new species of plants and animals during his travels.
Throughout history, the surname DARUS has also been associated with various place names and locations. For example, the village of Darus in the Aegean region of Turkey is believed to have derived its name from the Greek surname, suggesting that families with this name may have settled in the area.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Darus
Among Census respondents with the surname Darus, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Darus bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Darus surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.5% · 76
- Black or African American9.8% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.9% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 5
- Two or more races3.9% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Darus
Darus appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#154,907
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
+4 bearers (+4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 5,579 places
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-3 bearers (-2.9%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 152 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #149,328 | 101 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #154,907 | 105 | 0.04 | +4 bearers (+4.0%) | Down 5,579 places |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -3 bearers (-2.9%) | Up 152 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Darus surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #154,907 | #154,755 | 0.1% |
| Count | 105 | 102 | -2.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Darus bearers went from 105 to 102 (-2.9% change). The surname moved up 152 positions in the national ranking, going from #154,907 to #154,755.
FAQ
Darus surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Darus?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Darus. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Darus?
Darus ranks #154,755 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 102 people with the surname Darus. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (117), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Darus.
Has Darus become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Darus went from 105 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 3 (-2.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #154,907 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Darus?
Among Census respondents with the surname Darus, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Darus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.5% (76 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Darus appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (74.5%), Black (9.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (6.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Darus (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Darus mean?
An Australian Aboriginal surname potentially meaning "dwarf" or "dweller in the lowlands". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Darus (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Darus?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Darus, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.