Darlene is an English name coined in the early 20th century from the word "darling" and the fashionable ending -lene, as in Charlene and Marlene. It peaked in the United States in the 1950s and keeps a cozy, grandmotherly warmth that some parents now find appealing again. Darlene ranked number 826 in 2000, left the top 1000 shortly afterward and has settled around number 1800 to 1900, standing at number 1847 in 2025.