Holding steady.
Popularity of Darnella since 1920
Babies named Darnella per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1961, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Darnella's real moment was 1967.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1920s | 51 |
| 1930s | 17 |
| 1940s | 79 |
| 1950s | 157 |
| 1960s | 185 |
| 1970s | 111 |
| 1980s | 86 |
| 1990s | 45 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Darnella first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1920, and its peak year was 1967, when it saw its highest usage among American girls. Since then, the name has remained stable at low levels of use but has never reached ranks within the top 1,000. The name is a modern coinage, likely inspired by the fashionable -ella suffix and the surname Darnell, or a blend of Darla and Ella. Its trajectory has been relatively flat, indicating consistent minor use over the decades. Although not associated with top states in terms of concentration, Darnella reflects mid-20th-century American naming trends that favored creative feminine elaborations.
Darnella appears to be a 20th-century coined name, combining the popular suffix -ella with the surname Darnell. Darnell itself derives from an English place name of uncertain meaning, possibly related to an Old English word for 'hidden nook' or from a Celtic root. The name gained modest use in the United States during the mid-1900s.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Darnie, Nella, Dara
Sibling names for Darnella
Names that share Darnella's style, for a brother or sister.
