Darek
Darek is the everyday short form of Dariusz, a Slavic name that came down to us meaning "possessing goodness". Hardly anyone carries it as a legal first name: only around 160 do, so most Poles have never met one on paper.
Darek Pronunciation
Darek is pronounced DAH-rek (/ˈdarɛk/).
What Darek means
Where Darek comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Darek rarely stands alone on an official form. It is the everyday short form of Dariusz, with the fuller variants Darius and Dariusz standing behind it. The grounding traces the name to Slavic roots, and the short meaning handed down to us is "possessing goodness."
The cross-gender form is Daria, given to girls who share the same sense. A boy on a school register signs the long Dariusz across the top of his tests and answers to Darek in the corridor. The two names live side by side. One is formal, the other is close.
The sense "possessing goodness" attaches to the name more as a later gloss than as a plain Slavic root. It rewards the person who keeps it well. Darek stays simple. Nobody has to explain it twice, and it wears down softly with use. Whatever a man does with the name, the meaning handed down stays the same: possessing goodness.
How many people are named Darek
1 in 130160 men in Poland is named Darek. 164 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2519 among male names.
Darek's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Darek as a middle name
Darek is a first name for 164 men in Poland and a middle name for another 113, a 59/41 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 659th, between Alessandro (113) and Julius (113).
-
#657 Sergio114
-
#658 Alessandro113
-
#659 Darek113
-
#660 Julius113
-
#661 Tom113