NameRealm
Darlene

Darlene: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“dear one”
Origin
English
Say it
dar-LEEN · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls

Formed from English dear/darling with the suffix -lene/-ene; effectively a modern coinage based on 'darling'. It rose as an independent given name in the 20th century.

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How popular is Darlene?

202433.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Darlene in 2024111

2024 rank#1,802 girls

Peak year1958

Total US babies since 1880205,436

Darlene is fading: recent use is about 61% of its level ten years before.

Names like Darlene

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Oliviaolive tree · English
  • Evelyndesired; little bird · English
  • Harperharp player · English
  • Violetviolet flower · English
  • Hazelhazel tree · English
  • Ellieshort form of names ending in -el or -ella · English
  • Lilylily flower · English
  • Scarlettscarlet, bright red · English

Darlene questions

What does the name Darlene mean?

Darlene means "dear one". It comes from English. Formed from English dear/darling with the suffix -lene/-ene; effectively a modern coinage based on 'darling'. It rose as an independent given name in the 20th century.

Is Darlene a boy or girl name?

Darlene is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Darlene?

111 US babies were named Darlene in 2024. Its peak year was 1958.

How do you pronounce Darlene?

Darlene is usually pronounced dar-LEEN.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.