Daniel

Meaning: God is my judge
Origin: Hebrew

Nicknames: Dan, Danny, Dani

Boy's name · #22 in the US (2025) · 80s wave

Popularity over time

Daniel was #5 back in 1985, held the national top 100 for more than a century without a break, and stands at #22 today. About 2.0 million boys have carried it since 1880.

Across the states

See where Daniel is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 51 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

Daniel is especially popular in Finland (other-lang.), Mexico, and Czechia.

#4 in Finland (other-lang.) (2025) · #7 in Mexico (2024) · #10 in Czechia (2025) · #12 in Spain (2024) · #14 in Hungary (2025) · #14 in Ireland (2025) · #28 in Finland (Finnish-sp.) (2025) · #34 in N. Ireland (2025) · #35 in Ecuador (2025) · #39 in Puerto Rico (2025) · #43 in Scotland (2025) · #50 in Poland (2025) and 13 more.

Famous Daniels

Daniel Defoe — English trader, writer, and journalist (1660–1731)
Daniel Radcliffe — British actor and film producer (born 1989)
Daniel Craig — English actor
Daniel Day-Lewis — British actor
Daniel Ortega — Nicaraguan politician

In stories & tradition

Daniel — Book of Daniel (Bible)
Daniel Jackson — Stargate (film)
Daniel (Iron Fist) — Marvel Premiere (comics)

What Daniels become

Among 23,024 notable people named Daniel:

Scientists & scholars appear 1.28× more often than among typical names — e.g. Daniel Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and physicist (1700–1782).

Twin names

Popular twin pairings with Daniel include David, Michael, and Samuel for boys.

Spellings & nicknames

About 470 boys a year are given Danny as their full name, 390 girls Dani, and 85 Dan.

Similar names: Matthew · David · Joshua · Michael · Jonathan · Nathaniel

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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