Daphne

What Daphne means

Means “laurel, bay”

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δάφνη (dáphnē, “laurel, bay”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Daphne” (revision 93768129), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Daphne?

US: Rising: up from #378 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #496 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 1,740 girls got the name (#178 that year). First in the US records in 1886.

How common

• About 1 in 924 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 649 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 746 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (5.13 per 1,000 girls), DC (4.46 per 1,000 girls), AK (3.63 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Daphne is #178 in the US and #125 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Daphne were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Dafne237 US · 9 E&W
• Dafnne10 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Daphne

Girls

• Georgia#99“farmer”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Elena#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #106 in 2015, #42 in 2025. 5 letters, starting with a vowel
• Elaina#267Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #267 vs #951 in 2025
• Athena#109Editor’s note Up from #157 in 2015 to #109 in 2025 in the US
• Iris#61“rainbow”^*

For a brother

• Azariah#472“Yah Has Helped”^*
• Isaias#426Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #426 vs #3,256 in 2025
• Theo#82Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #405 in 2015, #82 in 2025
• Orion#334possibly “heaven's light”^*
• Sebastian#16“august, venerable, exalted”^*
• Solomon#422“peace”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Daphne’s. Rank is US 2025.