Declan

Did you know?

A few things about Declan you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Declan

Declan Rice

English footballer (born 1999)

Choose Declan and your child shares a first name with Declan Rice, an English footballer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Declan, like who?” Declan Rice's Wikipedia article is available in 64 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Declan Rice on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 665 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Declan, 2,570 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Declan would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryDeclan first shows up in US birth records in 1951, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 74 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2019, when it reached #95.
• 📈Then vs nowDeclan is 7.6× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 5,061 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 665.
• 🍂TrendDeclan has slipped 38 places over the last five years and now sits at #139. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedDeclan is most popular in Montana, where it ranks #66, followed by Delaware (#68) and Wyoming (#72). It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• 💬MeaningIn Irish, Declan means “possibly full of goodness”. Our records link it to Celtic, Gaelic and Irish roots.
• 🌍OriginDeclan is the #7 most popular Gaelic boy name in the US. That's out of 297 Gaelic boy and unisex names in our list.

About the name Declan

Declan is a boy name of Celtic, Gaelic and Irish origin meaning “possibly full of goodness”. It has 6 letters and 2 syllables, starting with D and ending in “-lan”. US birth records list Declan for boys from 1951 to 2025, in 68 of those 75 years. Its best year was 2019, when it ranked #95 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #139, with 2,570 babies.

Origin:Celtic namesGaelic namesIrish names