Name of the Week

From dashing literary heartthrob to principle ballerinas,
 the dapper surname has taken off as a 
stylish 21st-century first name.

 

Origin:

Before it was adopted as a given name, Darcey was a toponymic surname -- written in many forms -- derived from Arcy in La Monche, Normandy. The earlier form of the place name was Adreci, the origin of which is unclear. There have been some attempts to link it with the Gallic ars "bear," but these claims are unsubstantiated. It was first brought to Britain by Norman knight by the name of Norman de Adreci (de Areci), who was a follower of William the Conqueror. As such, he was granted thirty three lordships in Lincolnshire as well as the wealthy Abbey of St Mary in York. From him a baronial line was established, the name morphing from de Adreci to Daresci, Arsi, D'Arcy and eventually Darcy, Darcey and Darsey. In the 14th century, some of the Darcy family were appointed to senior postions in Ireland and there name went with them. There it was used to render the already establish clan name Ó Dorchaidhe, meaning "descendant of Dorchaidh." Dorchaidh itself was a byname derived from the Old Irish dorchae "dark," most likely originally used to describe someone with dark hair or features.

Usage:

Darcy, Darcey, Darcye, Darsie and numerous other spellings have been in use as a given name since the 17th century in Britain when it was adopted from the surname. Most of the examples are masculine, though a few are feminine.  It was consistently used across the 19th and 20th century with a mean average of 10 births per year. The 1881 census, for example, listed 122 people with the name Darcy. Of those, 108 were male and 14 were female.  click to enlarge Change to the name's fortune occurred during the 1990s, partly thanks to the BBC's fabulous adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in which Colin Firth charmed audiences as Mr Darcy, and the fame of ballerina Darcey Bussell, Darcey, in all spellings began to rise. In England and Wales, Darcy was, at first, the more common spelling, though it has since been preceded by Darcey.  Interestingly, despite rising rapidly for girls, Darcy also rose for boys up until 2008, after which it has plateud.  A breakdown of the variant spellings can be seen below:   Darcey Darcy  Darcie  Darci  Darcy  Darcey 1996 #753 (30) #327 (107) #549 (45) #1755 (9) #853 (17) - 1998 #418 (73) #286 (145) #425 (72) #1571 (11) #1055 (13) - 2000 #313 (110) #288 (130) #427 (73) #1389 (13) #1048 (14) - 2002 #316 (114) #249 (159) #308 (117) #1066 (20) #546 (38) - 2004 #295 (139) #226 (201) #354 (108) #912 (29) #906 (23) - 2006 #176 (301) #168 (316) #248 (189) #855 (35) #793 (32) #2538 (6) 2008 #119 (438) #128 (412) #195 (269) #663 (56) #684 (43) - 2010 #126 (454) #115 (503) #150 (349) #601 (65) #832 (35) - 2012 #89 (632) #107 (528) #122 (476) #614 (68) #1021 (27) - 2013 #84 (651) #93 (588) #103 (540) #712 (56) #1001 (28) - Not only were both Darcey (#84) and Darcy (#93) in the top 100 in 2013 (see above), also ranking were Darcie-Mae, Darcy-Mae, Darcie-Rae, Darcie-Mai, Darcee, Darcy-Leigh, Darcy-May, Darcie-Leigh, Darcie-May, Darcey-Rose, Darcie-Rose, Darcey-Mai, Darcey-Leigh, darcey-Mae, Darcey-May, Darcey-Rae, Darci-Mae, Darcie-Louise, Darcy-Rae and Darcy-Rose which, when all are added together, give a combined rank of #32. Similarly, Darcey et al have also been rising in Northern Ireland and Scotland. In 2013, Darcy ranked #102 , Darcey #140 and Darcie #188 in Scotland, and in Northern Ireland, Darcy ranked #83, Darcey #103 and Darcie #116. This makes an interesting contrast to our Commonwealth breathren in Australia, who much prefer Darcy for boys. According to recent research, combined data for Australia puts Darcy at #88 for boys in Australia in 2014.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Henry Darcy (1803–1858), French scientist who made several important contributions to hydraulics and hydrogeology and for whom the unit of permeability is named. Contemporary: * Darcey Bussell (b.1969), retired British prima-ballerina. * Darci Kistler (b. 1964), principal dancer, New York City Ballet. * Darcy Blake (b. 1988), Welsh footballer. * Darcy Rose Byrnes (b. 1998), an American actress and singer-songwriter. Literature and Other Media: * Fitzwilliam Darcy, the hero of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  * Darcy Tyler, a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Mark Raffety (2000-2005).

Variants:

Darcy, Darcie, Darci

Pronunciation:

DAR-see [key]

Possible  Diminutives:

Didi, Dars

Sibling Names:

Layla     Maya     Sienna     Freya     Mila     Ruby  Blake    Sonny    Jackson    Zachary    Theo    Austin

Name Lists:

Names from Jane Austen

 

If you like Darcey you may also like:  Macey, Lexi, Esme, Lacey, Ayla, Zara, Skye, Lyla, Neve, Isla

 

Thanks to Nicola for requesting this post.