Variant of Darrell, from the Norman French surname d'Airelle, denoting someone from Airelle in France.
Darel is a variant spelling of Darrell (also Darryl or Daryl), a name whose origins lie in the Norman French place name D'Airelle, referring to a locality in Calvados in Normandy. The family that took its name from this place arrived in England with the Conquest of 1066 and gave rise to the English surname Darrell, which over time followed the familiar path from distinguished family name to given name. The place name itself likely derives from a Gaulish or early French root relating to open land or a clearing.
The name moved into given-name use primarily in the twentieth century, when it appeared with some frequency in Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia. It never became a dominant name but maintained a steady presence through the mid-century decades. Various spellings proliferated — Daryl, Darryl, Darrell, Darel — each occupying slightly different demographic and regional niches.
The musician Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates and the actress Daryl Hannah gave the name cultural visibility in the 1970s and 1980s, though the core spelling Darel has always been the most pared-back variant. Darel's particular spelling strips the name to its essential sound — two syllables, clear and unadorned — without the doubled consonants that make other variants look busier on the page. It has a quietly retro quality now, associated with mid-century solidity rather than current trend cycles, which gives it an understated distinction for parents who prefer names that don't announce themselves as fashionable.