Declan
Top 1000
About Declan
Declan is the Anglicized form of the Irish name Deaglán, popularized in the 90s and 2000s following its appearance in the movie The Jackal. Also featured in the 2010 movie Leap Year, along with the soap operas, Emmerdale and Neighbours, and the series Breaking Bad, it has risen up the US charts to feature in the Top 150 in recent years.
Possibly meaning "man of prayer" or "man of goodness", St. Declan was one of the first missionaries to bring Christianity to Ireland, preceding St. Patrick. Originally from Wales, he founded the monastery of Ardmore in Ireland.
Similar in sound and style Dylan, Dexter, and Nolan, Declan was the birth name of singer Elvis Costello, while singer Cyndi Lauper chose the Declyn spelling for her son, born in 1997. Other noteworthy Declans include footballer Declan Rice, presenter Declan "Dec" Donnelly, and singer Declan Galbraith.
Pronounced DEK-lun.
As of October 2026, Declan ranked #139 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #95 in 2019, Nameberry popularity #119.
Editor's take: The name Declan is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "man of prayer, good man".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #122 | 3,321 | 1,728.9 |
| 2015 | #112 | 3,587 | 1,871.4 |
| 2016 | #109 | 3,622 | 1,908.6 |
| 2017 | #115 | 3,469 | 1,874.2 |
| 2018 | #101 | 3,812 | 2,098.9 |
| 2019 | #95 | 3,971 | 2,213.2 |
| 2020 | #102 | 3,601 | 2,086.2 |
| 2021 | #106 | 3,646 | 2,084 |
| 2022 | #114 | 3,344 | 1,915.2 |
| 2023 | #132 | 2,814 | 1,645.1 |
| 2024 | #131 | 2,758 | 1,600.8 |
| 2025 | #139 | 2,570 | 1,504.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Declan.
- Nolan
- Emerson
- Bennett
- Everett
- Callum
- Derin
- Beckett
- Holden
- Rhys
- Wyatt
- Emmett
- Kieran
- Sayla
- Keiran
- Elliott
- Rhett
- Reid
- Lachlan
- Flynn
- Callen
Declan on lists
Famous Declans
- Declan Patrick (Aloysius) McManus
birth name of Elvis Costello, British singer,songwriter
- Declan Quinn
Irish,American cinematographer
- Declan 'Dec' Donnelly
British presenter
- Declan Donnellan
English film and stage director
- Declan Kidney
former Irish rugby union coach
- Declan James Ganley
Irish CEO and political activist
- Declan 'Fabio' O'Brien
Irish footballer
- Declan O'Rourke
Irish singer,songwriter
- Declan Lowney
Irish TV and film director
- Declan John Galbraith
English singer
- Declan McKenna
British singer,songwriter
- Declan O'Malley
son of actor Mike O'Malley
- Declan James McMahon (b. 2004)
son of wrestling mogul Shane McMahon
- Declan Sawyers (b. 2008)
son of soccer player Julie Foudy and Ian Sawyers
- Declan George McBride (b. 2011)
son of actor Danny McBride
- Declan O'Hare (b. 2011)
son of actor Denis O'Hare
- Declan Stump (b. 2013)
son of musician Patrick Stump
Declan in pop culture
- Declan Flaherty
character on British soap "EastEnders"
- Declan Desmond
character on TV's "The Simpsons"
- Declan O'Callaghan
character from movie "Leap Year"
- Declan Porter
character from TV series, Revenge
- Declan McDonough
character on the TV series, Kyle XY
- Declan Coyne
character on TV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation'
- Declan Dunn
main character on TV's "Mysterious Ways"
- Declan Doyle
character on the television show "Criminal Minds"
- Declan Foray
character in "Experiment in Terror" by Karina Halle
- Declan Murphy
main character in "Letters to the Lost" by Brigid Kemmerer
- Declan Ross
main character in "Isle of Swords" by Wayne Thomas Batson
- Declan Connor
character from Virgins of paradise, by Barbara Wood
- Declan O'Duinne
character in the Longbow series by Wayne Grant
- Declan Rand
character in the TV series Psych
- Declan Lynch
character from the Raven Cycle book series by Maggie Stiefvater
- Declan "Gill" Giloglie the Third
character from Acorna, The Unicorn Girl (Series by Anne McCaffery and Margaret Ball
- Declan Rivers
character in the "Jocelyn Frost Series" by Relina Skye
- Declan Broekhart
character in "Airman" by Eoin Colfer