Boy names that start with D
Daniel and David have been American staples for generations, and both are Hebrew sentences about God. Look past them and the letter turns unpredictable: Dashiell arrived by way of a detective novelist, Dhruv by way of the Pole Star.
Most popular D names right now
Only three D names hold a place in the current U.S. Social Security top 100 — a striking drop for a letter that dominated the 1960s. These are their exact ranks.
- #22DanielDAN-yulHebrew
God is my judge. The prophet who read the writing on the wall and came out of the lions' den; Dan and Danny come free.
- #35DavidDAY-vidHebrew
Traditionally glossed as beloved. Shepherd, giant-killer, harpist and king — arguably the most complete character in the Hebrew Bible.
- #41DylanDIL-unWelsh
Of the sea; great tide. A sea god in the Mabinogi, a poet in Swansea, and a singer who borrowed the poet's name.
Classic D names
Greek gods, Irish saints and Roman devotion. These have been in steady use for centuries and read as adult names on a grown man.
- DominicDOM-i-nikLatin
Of the Lord; belonging to the Lord. Dominic de Guzmán founded the order of preachers who still bear his name.
- DamianDAY-mee-unGreek
To tame, to subdue, to master. Damian and his twin Cosmas are the patron saints of physicians.
- DanteDAHN-tayItalian
Enduring, steadfast — a contraction of Durante. Dante Alighieri effectively invented literary Italian.
- Dariusduh-RY-usPersian
He who holds firm the good. Darius the Great ruled an empire that stretched from the Indus to the Aegean.
- DeclanDEK-lanIrish
Uncertain; glossed as man of prayer, or full of goodness. Declan of Ardmore is said to have preached in Ireland before Patrick.
- DesmondDEZ-mundIrish
From south Munster — a regional byname before it was ever a first name. Desmond Tutu carried it worldwide.
- Demetriusdih-MEE-tree-usGreek
Devoted to Demeter, goddess of grain and harvest. Long and formal, with Demi and Dee waiting underneath.
- DennisDEN-issGreek
Belonging to Dionysus. Saint Denis, the patron of Paris, brought it into French and then English.
- DouglasDUG-lusScottish
Dark stream. One of the great Scottish clan names, and a mid-century American favourite now well outside the top 100.
- DeanDEENEnglish
Valley — or the officer who heads a chapter of ten. Two unrelated origins arriving at one very smooth syllable.
Unique D names
Surnames, place names and Norse nouns. Every one of these is outside the current U.S. top 100, and several are genuinely rare.
- Dashiellduh-SHEELSurname name
Genuinely uncertain in origin. It reached us through Dashiell Hammett, who wrote The Maltese Falcon — the most stylish provenance on this page.
- DafyddDAH-vithWelsh
Beloved — the Welsh David. Dafydd ap Gwilym is the finest poet medieval Wales produced; note the dd, which is a soft th.
- DorianDOR-ee-unGreek
Of the Dorians, an ancient Greek people. Oscar Wilde gave it a portrait and a shadow.
- DexterDEK-sterEnglish
Right-handed and so skilful — or, by the surname route, a dyer. Bookish and brisk at the same time.
- DirkDIRKDutch
Ruler of the people, worn down from Diederik. Utterly ordinary in the Netherlands, still bracing in English.
- DagDAHGNorwegian
Day. Dag Hammarskjöld, the Swedish diplomat who died leading the United Nations, is its best-known bearer.
- DaxDAKSFrench place name
No meaning as a given name — Dax is a spa town in Gascony. Three letters, one hard landing.
- DonovanDON-uh-vunIrish
Dark brown, originally a nickname for colouring. An Irish surname that turned into a soft, three-syllable first name.
- DaltonDAWL-tunEnglish
The settlement in the valley. John Dalton gave modern chemistry its atomic theory and this name its best association.
- DallasDAL-ussScottish
Nothing settled — a Scottish place name traditionally read as a meadow dwelling, long before Texas took it.
D names from around the world
David alone accounts for a good part of this list, in five languages. The rest range from Hausa day names to Sanskrit astronomy.
- DawitDAH-weetAmharic
Beloved — the Ethiopian David, and the name of several emperors of Ethiopia.
- Daudidah-OO-deeSwahili
Beloved; the Swahili David, arriving via Arabic Dawud rather than through English.
- Dmytrodmih-TROHUkrainian
Of Demeter; devoted to the harvest goddess. The Ukrainian form of Demetrius, and a very common one.
- DaliborDAH-lee-borCzech
One who fights far off. Smetana wrote an opera about the knight who bore it.
- Diegodee-AY-goSpanish
Disputed, but probably a doublet of Santiago, Saint James. Rivera painted, Maradona played, and the name never rests.
- DhruvDROOVSanskrit
Fixed, immovable — and the name of the Pole Star. In the Puranas, the boy Dhruva is set in the sky as the one point that never moves.
- DaichiDYE-cheeJapanese
Great earth, the wide land — 大地. A modern Japanese favourite with a landscape inside it.
- DohyunDOH-hyunKorean
The sense is set by the hanja a family registers; a frequent pairing is 道, the way, with 賢, wise or worthy.
- DucDUHKVietnamese
Virtue, moral character — the character 德. A single syllable naming the thing Vietnamese families most want to pass on.
- Dakiladah-KEE-lahTagalog
Great, noble, illustrious. Part of the Filipino turn back to native Tagalog names.
- Danladidan-LAH-deeHausa
Born on a Sunday. Hausa day names are built from dan, son, plus the day of the week.
- Doğandoh-AHNTurkish
Falcon — and, read as a verb, born or rising. The ğ is silent, and simply lengthens the vowel before it.