Darwin is an English surname from the Old English Deorwine, meaning "dear friend" or "beloved friend". The naturalist Charles Darwin made it world famous, and the city of Darwin in northern Australia is named after him; as a first name it is especially common in Central America. Darwin climbed from number 1007 in 2000, peaked at number 732 in 2010, left the US top 1000 for a year in 2021 and ranks number 961 among boys' names in 2025.