Darlene, also spelled Darleen or Darline, is an English feminine given name coined in the late 19th century. It is based on the

term of endearment A term of endearment is a word or phrase used to address or describe a person, animal or inanimate object for which the speaker feels love or affection. Terms of endearment are used for a variety of reasons, such as parents addressing their ch ...

''darling'' in combination with the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

-een, -ene, or -ine in use in other names popular during that period such as

Arleen Arleen or Arlene is an Irish feminine given name and variant of Carlene or Charlene and in the French derived from feminine diminutive of Charles (meaning ''free man''). Given name * Arlene The Housewife, a female wrestler from Gorgeous Ladie ...

, Charlene, Claudine,

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

, Jolene, Josephine,

Marlene Marlene may refer to: People * Marlene (given name), including a list of people with the name * Marlene (Burmese businesswoman), Nang Kham Noung (born 1991) * Marlene (Japanese singer) (born 1960), a Filipina jazz singer active in Japan Film * Ma ...

, Maxine, and Pauline. The greatest use of the name has been in North America. Darla is a variant.

Usage

The name first appeared on the list of 1,000 most used names for newborn girls in the United States in 1909 and remained among the top 1,000 names there until 2004, after which it declined in use. It was at the height of popularity between 1933 and 1966, when it was among the 100 most used names for American girls. There were 107 newborn American girls who were given the name Darlene in 2022. It was among the top 100 names for newborn girls in Canada between 1943 and 1973. It was among the top 1,000 names for newborn girls in Brazil between 1950 and 2000.

Notable people

* Darlene (formerly known as Darlene Pekul) (born 1954), American artist and calligrapher * Darlene Caamaño (born 1970), American film producer *

Darlene Conley Darlene Conley (July 18, 1934 – January 14, 2007) was an American actress. Conley's career spanned fifty years, but she was best known for her performances in daytime television, and in particular, for her portrayal of larger-than-life fashio ...

(1934–2007), American actress *

Darlene de Souza Darlene de Souza Reguera (born 11 January 1990), simply known as Darlene, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Ferroviária. She participated at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Club career From 2012 to 2013, Darlene played clu ...

(born 1990), Brazilian footballer *

Darlene Fairley Darlene Cook Fairley (born 1943) was a member of the Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population o ...

(born 1943), American politician *

Darlene Gillespie Darlene Gillespie (born April 8, 1941) is a Canadian-American former child actress, most remembered as a singer and dancer on the original ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' television series from 1955 to 1959. After her career in entertainment ended, she ...

(born 1941), Canadian-American actress * Darlene Garner, American minister and activist *

Darlene Hard Darlene Ruth Hard (January 6, 1936 – December 2, 2021) was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Cha ...

(1936–2021), American tennis player *

Darlene Hooley Darlene Kay Olson Hooley (born April 4, 1939) is an American politician and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon who represented the state's . A high school teacher by profession, she served as a city counc ...

(born 1939), American politician *

Darlene Love Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), also known by the stage name Darlene Love, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and also a solo recording artist. She began singing as a ch ...

(born 1941), American singer and actress *

Darlene Naponse Darlene Naponse is an Anishinaabe filmmaker, writer, director, and community activist from Canada. She is most noted for her 2018 film ''Falls Around Her'', which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018 and subs ...

, Canadian Anishinaabe filmmaker, writer, director, and community activist *

Darlene Ka-Mook Nichols Darlene Nichols, also known by the names Kamook, Ka-Mook, Kamook Nichols and Ka-Mook Nichols, is a Native American activist and former member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). She is best known for her role in organizing The Longest Walk, ...

(born 1955), Native American activist and FBI informant *

Darlene Pagano Darlene Pagano is a feminist activist, radio producer, and editor. She is most famous for her conversational piece "Racism and Sadomasochism: A Conversation with Two Black Lesbians" published in collaboration with Karen Sims and Rose Mason in a ...

, American lesbian feminist activist * Darlene Quaife (born 1948), Canadian novelist * Darlene Rodriguez (born 1970), American journalist *

Darlene Rotchford Darlene Rotchford is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2024 general election. She represents the electoral district of Esquimalt-Colwood as a member of the British Columbia New Democrati ...

, Canadian politician * Darlene Brannigan Smith, American academic administrator * Darlene Vogel (born 1962), American actress and model *

Darlene Zschech Darlene Joyce Zschech (; Steinhardt; 8 September 1965) is an Australian Pentecostal Christian worship leader and singer who primarily writes praise and worship songs. Described as a pioneer of the modern worship movement, she is the former wor ...

(born 1965), Australian religious leader and musician

In fiction

* Darlene Conner is a fictional character from the television sitcom ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

'' * Darlene is one of the characters in the play and film ''

Hurlyburly ''Hurlyburly'' is a dark comedy play by David Rabe, first staged in 1984. The title refers to dialogue from Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. Plot ''Hurlyburly'' depicts the intersecting lives of several low-to-mid-level Hollywood players in the 19 ...

'' * Darlene Spritzer is a fictional waitress from the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

'' Lobo'' comic books *

Darlene Taylor Darlene Taylor may refer to: * Darlene Taylor (Hollyoaks), a character from soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' * Darlene Taylor (politician) (born 1950), member of the Georgia House of Representatives {{hndis, Taylor, Darlene ...

is a fictional character from the soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' * Darlene Alderson is one of the characters from the television series ''

Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and dissoci ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darlene English given names Feminine given names English feminine given names