The name Daniel comes from Hebrew and means "judgment of God." (Dan refers to judgment, and el -- just like in the names Michael, Gabriel and Nathaniel -- refers to God.)
A consistently popular baby name in the U.S., Daniel ranked among the top 50 names in the nation for most of the years of the 20th century. It's been in the top 20 since the early 1950s, and ranked 5th in 2008. The name is also popular in other countries, including the UK, Ireland, Spain, Romania, the Czech Republic and New Zealand.
Nicknames include Dan and Danny, and two of the most common feminine forms are Daniela and Danielle. Versions of Daniel in languages besides English include Danail (Bulgarian), Daniele (Italian), Danielius (Lithuanian), Daniil (Russian), Danijel (Croatian), Deiniol (Welsh), Taneli (Finnish) and Taniel (Armenian). Feminine forms include Danielle and Daniela.
Notable bearers include:
- Dan Aykroyd, Canadian-American actor.
- Dan Brown, writer. (Author of The Da Vinci Code.)
- Dan Jansen, Olympic gold medalist.
- Dan Marino, American football player.
- Daniel Craig, English actor. (One of the James Bond actors.)
- Daniel Day-Lewis, English actor.
- Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), English author.
- Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782), Swiss mathematician.
- Daniel Boone (1734-1820), American frontiersman.
- Daniel Radcliffe, British actor. (Played Harry Potter in film.)
- Danny Elfman, American musician.
Daniel is also a common surname. One of the most recognizable examples might be Jack Daniel, namesake of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
