From the Norman surname d'Airelle, referring to Airelle in France, meaning 'from Airelle'.
Darryl — also spelled Darrell or Daryl — is an English surname repurposed as a given name, originating from the Norman French d'Airelle, meaning "from Airelle," a village in Calvary, Normandy. The d'Arelle family came to England with the Norman Conquest in 1066, and over generations their surname gradually migrated into the given-name pool, a trajectory common to many Anglo-Norman names. The precise spelling Darryl emerged as a distinctly American variation in the twentieth century, giving the name a slightly more individualized feel.
The mid-twentieth century was Darryl's golden era. Darryl F. Zanuck, the legendary co-founder of 20th Century Fox, gave the name enormous cultural currency in Hollywood circles during the 1930s and 40s.
Darryl Strawberry became one of baseball's most gifted and tragic stars in the 1980s, while Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates brought the name to the pop charts. In the 1980s television landscape, the sitcom Newhart featured two laconic brothers both named Darryl — a comic bit that became one of the show's most beloved running jokes, demonstrating how thoroughly embedded the name had become in the American consciousness. Darryl peaked in American popularity during the 1950s through the 1970s, when surname-as-given-name trends were at their height.
It has since receded from the baby name charts, giving it the warm, generational feel of a name firmly associated with a particular era. This vintage quality has made Darryl an interesting candidate for revival — carrying the easy Americanness of its era while sounding genuinely distinctive among a generation of Aidens and Liams.