Daphne is the Greek word for "laurel"; in myth the nymph Daphne was turned into a laurel tree to escape Apollo, and the laurel wreath became the crown of victors ever after. The name was quietly used in America for decades before Daphne Bridgerton, the heroine of the first season of Bridgerton in 2020, sent it climbing. Daphne ranked 633rd in the United States in 2000, jumped from number 415 in 2020 to number 289 in 2021 and ranks 178th in 2025, its best rank so far.