Daniel

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Даниил in RU Russia, Данило in UA Ukraine, Danilo in PH Philippines and Данил in KZ Kazakhstan.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Daniel is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Swahili given name894K records spelled Daniel9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ghana, Kenya, United States, Nigeria

  Languages: Swahili, Akan, Southern Sotho

  Also written Daniël, Daniel', Dániel

• a separate given name732K records spelled Daniel13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, India, United Kingdom

  Also written Daniël, Danie͏̈l, Dániel, Dani'El, Dàniel

• Indonesian given name146K records spelled Daniel6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Daniel, Daniël, Daniel', Dániel

• Romanian given name92K records spelled Daniel5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Romania, United States, Spain, United Kingdom

  Also written Dániel, Daniël

• Greek given name34K records spelled Daniel22 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Cyprus

  Also written Δανιηλ, Daniil, Ntaniel, Δανιήλ, Ντανιέλ

• a separate given name28K records spelled Daniel37 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Peru

  Also written Daniël, D̶a̶n̶i̶e̶l̶, Dàńîèl, Dåniel, Dãnïél

• Hebrew given name22K records spelled Daniel39 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Israel, United States, Italy, Argentina

  Languages: Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic

  Also written דניאל, דני, Daniele, דאניאל, דניאיל

155 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Daniel is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• From the Hebrew name דָּנִיֵּאל (Dāniyyēl), composed of the elements דָּן (dan) meaning 'to judge' and אֵל (el) meaning 'God'.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name Daniel means 'God is my judge,' reflecting a foundational belief in divine justice and sovereignty.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name Daniel means "God is my Judge."

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name Daniel is associated with wisdom, faithfulness, and courage. The biblical Daniel was a man of great integrity and faith who rose to a high position in a foreign land while remaining true to his beliefs, even in the face of extreme danger.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In English, Hebrew Daniel ‘God has judged’; first attested Eudo filius Daniel 1121–48 Bury (Sf)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Daniel Bernoullib. 1700CHSwiss mathematician and physicist (1700-1782)
• Louis Armstrongb. 1901USnot in their usual nameAmerican jazz musician, trumpeter and singer (1901–1971)
• Daniel arap Moib. 1924KEKenyan President (2nd) (1924-2020)
• Danny Elfmanb. 1953USnot in their usual nameAmerican film composer (born 1953)
• Danny Boyleb. 1956GBnot in their usual nameEnglish filmmaker
• Daniel Day-Lewisb. 1957GBBritish actor
• Éric Cantonab. 1966FRnot in their usual nameFrench footballer and actor (born 1966)
• Nicușor Danb. 1969ROnot in their usual namePresident of Romania since 2025
• Daniel Alvesb. 1983BRBrazilian footballer
• Daniel Noboab. 1987ECPresident of Ecuador since 2023

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 2,832 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Daniel?

We estimate roughly 3.7 million people bear Daniel (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Daniel have the most bearers?

Daniel is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled daniel.

How common is Daniel compared with other names?

In Argentina, Daniel is the 6th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Daniel a male or female name?

Daniel is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Daniel mean?

Recorded meaning: from the Hebrew male personal name Daniel, literally ‘God is my judge’