Dorothy

#421 for girls in 2025, 743 births · Last seen for boys in 1989 at #6,941
Given to girls 99.7% of the time

Showing
Show data for
Peak · girls
1924 · 39,996 births
Debut · girls
112 births
In top 100 · girls
72 yrs
of 146 years
Total births · girls
1,112,231
since 1880

Dorothy over time

girls

Rank among girls' names. Click any year to open it.

#1#10#100#1,000rank188019001920194019601980200020201949peak #2, 1924girls
Hover or use arrow keys to read values by year; click or press Enter to open that year.

Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.

Show data table
Yeargirlsboys
rankbirthsrankbirths
2025#421743—
2024#429718—
2023#463664—
2022#486645—
2021#483649—
2020#535565—
2019#561546—
2018#580530—
2017#590507—
2016#644456—
2015#714398—
2014#727385—
2013#806335—
2012#922279—
2011#927279—
2010#1,027243—
2009#1,116227—
2008#1,070244—
2007#1,003263—
2006#976267—
2005#1,025237—
2004#848290—
2003#835292—
2002#867264—
2001#750319—
2000#736314—
1999#678335—
1998#710312—
1997#682316—
1996#640350—
1995#597377—
1994#549443—
1993#515476—
1992#486509—
1991#486497—
1990#426596—
1989#398620#6,9416
1988#396608—
1987#381614—
1986#373629—
1985#332719#6,5235
1984#340681—
1983#305759#5,4846
1982#298829—
1981#307788#6,2625
1980#278896—
1979#272890—
1978#260914—
1977#269933—
1976#240982—
1975#250976#5,4645
1974#2321,098—
1973#2151,175#4,0547
1972#2181,273#3,9637
1971#1911,624—
1970#1801,799#4,7245
1969#1811,776#2,54912
1968#1572,086#2,57611
1967#1482,314#2,35212
1966#1362,664#2,32712
1965#1302,961#2,27013
1964#1183,533#2,40912
1963#1163,796#2,67310
1962#1114,073#2,03516
1961#994,732#2,32213
1960#955,076#1,77221
1959#945,231#2,20014
1958#865,539#1,76620
1957#746,405#1,51127
1956#726,858#1,67622
1955#647,242#1,39630
1954#557,789#1,62822
1953#498,162#1,76519
1952#468,609#1,51725
1951#429,089#1,34430
1950#359,551#1,36428
1949#3210,410#1,40927
1948#2911,324#1,48724
1947#2612,753#1,29732
1946#2312,797#1,06042
1945#2112,323#86452
1944#1913,379#93547
1943#1914,793#80866
1942#1715,037#82162
1941#1414,566#72972
1940#1214,875#65385
1939#915,169#69573
1938#816,358#59099
1937#816,572#70073
1936#617,666#573101
1935#619,406#525121
1934#521,281#549116
1933#422,054#524117
1932#424,974#558112
1931#326,524#478141
1930#330,411#480153
1929#331,476#536118
1928#333,733#552122
1927#235,993#553124
1926#236,618#563119
1925#238,570#63999
1924#239,996#638101
1923#239,043#66892
1922#237,716#84066
1921#239,087#69287
1920#236,643#75476
1919#331,733#79966
1918#332,030#85559
1917#328,852#82260
1916#327,418#69872
1915#325,154#94144
1914#318,782#85540
1913#314,674#69643
1912#312,645#64942
1911#48,869#53331
1910#47,318#58224
1909#56,253#50526
1908#65,703#58519
1907#64,967#51121
1906#64,326#50320
1905#73,937#74111
1904#103,477#53817
1903#113,078#9107
1902#152,707#9337
1901#222,173—
1900#272,491#9688
1899#351,687#7868
1898#431,671—
1897#431,472#9426
1896#461,366—
1895#571,127#1,0795
1894#581,052#8577
1893#68821—
1892#79626—
1891#76566—
1890#93458—
1889#102377—
1888#103373—
1887#111272—
1886#122230—
1885#128196—
1884#137163—
1883#137141—
1882#150115—
1881#144109—
1880#139112—
First appearance
1880

In the first year the SSA published name data, Dorothy was already there! It came in at #139, and was given to 112 baby girls.


Quietest stretch: 1880–1884, when fewer than 170 girls a year got the name.

Where Dorothy is popular in 1949

  • Rank in state
  • Top 10
  • 11–50
  • 51–100
  • 101–500
  • 501+
  • Not published
Alaska: #29 for girls · 10 births · 1 in 104 girlsAKMaine: #49 for girls · 50 births · 1 in 183 girlsMEVermont: #55 for girls · 18 births · 1 in 196 girlsVTNew Hampshire: #39 for girls · 35 births · 1 in 142 girlsNHWashington: #60 for girls · 92 births · 1 in 273 girlsWAIdaho: #59 for girls · 26 births · 1 in 236 girlsIDMontana: #45 for girls · 31 births · 1 in 196 girlsMTNorth Dakota: #55 for girls · 31 births · 1 in 215 girlsNDMinnesota: #65 for girls · 110 births · 1 in 295 girlsMNIllinois: #47 for girls · 384 births · 1 in 223 girlsILWisconsin: #61 for girls · 131 births · 1 in 282 girlsWIMichigan: #57 for girls · 281 births · 1 in 252 girlsMINew York: #44 for girls · 737 births · 1 in 193 girlsNYMassachusetts: #41 for girls · 274 births · 1 in 163 girlsMARhode Island: #40 for girls · 52 births · 1 in 140 girlsRIOregon: #56 for girls · 63 births · 1 in 239 girlsORNevada: #41 for girls · 9 births · 1 in 124 girlsNVWyoming: #44 for girls · 15 births · 1 in 170 girlsWYSouth Dakota: #43 for girls · 39 births · 1 in 181 girlsSDIowa: #64 for girls · 93 births · 1 in 293 girlsIAIndiana: #64 for girls · 144 births · 1 in 292 girlsINOhio: #60 for girls · 337 births · 1 in 257 girlsOHPennsylvania: #31 for girls · 673 births · 1 in 153 girlsPANew Jersey: #26 for girls · 323 births · 1 in 131 girlsNJConnecticut: #48 for girls · 89 births · 1 in 194 girlsCTCalifornia: #66 for girls · 381 births · 1 in 297 girlsCAUtah: #75 for girls · 27 births · 1 in 305 girlsUTColorado: #40 for girls · 85 births · 1 in 168 girlsCONebraska: #55 for girls · 55 births · 1 in 244 girlsNEMissouri: #44 for girls · 200 births · 1 in 194 girlsMOKentucky: #35 for girls · 232 births · 1 in 147 girlsKYWest Virginia: #41 for girls · 132 births · 1 in 181 girlsWVVirginia: #24 for girls · 302 births · 1 in 118 girlsVAMaryland: #24 for girls · 195 births · 1 in 115 girlsMDDelaware: #26 for girls · 28 births · 1 in 104 girlsDEArizona: #44 for girls · 52 births · 1 in 171 girlsAZNew Mexico: #30 for girls · 57 births · 1 in 152 girlsNMKansas: #50 for girls · 88 births · 1 in 204 girlsKSArkansas: #14 for girls · 273 births · 1 in 82 girlsARTennessee: #24 for girls · 331 births · 1 in 114 girlsTNNorth Carolina: #21 for girls · 460 births · 1 in 107 girlsNCSouth Carolina: #10 for girls · 395 births · 1 in 70 girlsSCDistrict of Columbia: #37 for girls · 66 births · 1 in 174 girlsDCOklahoma: #51 for girls · 94 births · 1 in 229 girlsOKLouisiana: #15 for girls · 361 births · 1 in 93 girlsLAMississippi: #4 for girls · 646 births · 1 in 45 girlsMSAlabama: #12 for girls · 512 births · 1 in 73 girlsALGeorgia: #12 for girls · 552 births · 1 in 77 girlsGAHawaii: #76 for girls · 19 births · 1 in 278 girlsHITexas: #33 for girls · 565 births · 1 in 168 girlsTXFlorida: #21 for girls · 255 births · 1 in 106 girlsFL

Hover or tap a state for its numbers.

Top states · girls
  1. Mississippi#4 · 1 in 45
  2. South Carolina#10 · 1 in 70
  3. Alabama#12 · 1 in 73
  4. Georgia#12 · 1 in 77
  5. Arkansas#14 · 1 in 82

Best ever in a state: #1 in Oregon, 1910.

Show every state
StateRankBirthsShare
Mississippi#46461 in 45
South Carolina#103951 in 70
Alabama#125121 in 73
Georgia#125521 in 77
Arkansas#142731 in 82
Louisiana#153611 in 93
Florida#212551 in 106
North Carolina#214601 in 107
Maryland#241951 in 115
Tennessee#243311 in 114
Virginia#243021 in 118
Delaware#26281 in 104
New Jersey#263231 in 131
Alaska#29101 in 104
New Mexico#30571 in 152
Pennsylvania#316731 in 153
Texas#335651 in 168
Kentucky#352321 in 147
District of Columbia#37661 in 174
New Hampshire#39351 in 142
Colorado#40851 in 168
Rhode Island#40521 in 140
Massachusetts#412741 in 163
Nevada#4191 in 124
West Virginia#411321 in 181
South Dakota#43391 in 181
Arizona#44521 in 171
Missouri#442001 in 194
New York#447371 in 193
Wyoming#44151 in 170
Montana#45311 in 196
Illinois#473841 in 223
Connecticut#48891 in 194
Maine#49501 in 183
Kansas#50881 in 204
Oklahoma#51941 in 229
Nebraska#55551 in 244
North Dakota#55311 in 215
Vermont#55181 in 196
Oregon#56631 in 239
Michigan#572811 in 252
Idaho#59261 in 236
Ohio#603371 in 257
Washington#60921 in 273
Wisconsin#611311 in 282
Indiana#641441 in 292
Iowa#64931 in 293
Minnesota#651101 in 295
California#663811 in 297
Utah#75271 in 305
Hawaii#76191 in 278

Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the girls born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.

See more about Dorothy
Momentum · girls
Rising
  • 8 spots since 2024 (#429 → #421)
  • 114 spots since 2020 (#535 → #421)
  • 293 spots since 2015 (#714 → #421)
  • Biggest jump: 116 spots in 2013 (#922 → #806)
  • Biggest drop: 177 spots in 2005 (#848 → #1,025)
Rise & fade · girls
44 yrs to peak
  • Debuted 1880
  • Peaked 1924 at #2 (39,996 births)
  • Births halved by 1935, 11 yrs later
Top of the charts · girls
Top 10 for 36 yrs
  • Top 10: 36 yrs · run 1904–1939
  • Top 100: 72 yrs · run 1890–1961
  • Top 1,000: 141 yrs · run 1880–2004
Share of babies · girls
1 in 31
  • Highest: 1 in 31 girls born in 1923 were named Dorothy (3.2%)
  • Latest: 1 in 2,163 girls born in 2025 (0.05%)
  • Its best rank, #2 in 1924, was only 1 in 31 (3.2%) — a smaller share of a much bigger birth year
Era · girls
The 1920s
  • 33.2% of all girls named Dorothy (368,875) were born in this decade
Show by decade
DecadeBirthsBest rankAvg rank
1880s2,088#102 (1889)#127
1890s10,846#35 (1899)#60
1900s39,112#5 (1909)#12
1910s207,475#3 (1918)#3
1920s368,875#2 (1924)#2
1930s210,415#3 (1930)#6
1940s132,257#12 (1940)#21
1950s74,475#35 (1950)#62
1960s33,011#95 (1960)#129
1970s11,664#180 (1970)#233
1980s7,143#278 (1980)#341
1990s4,211#426 (1990)#577
2000s2,717#736 (2000)#923
2010s3,958#561 (2019)#750
2020s3,984#421 (2025)#470

All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 girls in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.

Dorothy in 1949

girls
#32
10,410 births · 1 in 164 girls
boys
#1,409
27 births · 1 in 65,701 boys

Top girls' names in 1949

  1. #1Linda91,015
  2. #2Mary66,874
  3. #3Patricia46,324
  4. #4Barbara42,600
  5. #5Susan37,709
  6. #6Sandra30,643
  7. #7Nancy29,249
  8. #8Carol26,780
  9. #9Kathleen26,357
  10. #10Sharon25,713
  11. #32Dorothy10,410

Top boys' names in 1949

  1. #1James86,858
  2. #2Robert83,873
  3. #3John81,178
  4. #4William61,506
  5. #5Michael60,047
  6. #6David59,611
  7. #7Richard50,946
  8. #8Thomas45,192
  9. #9Charles40,052
  10. #10Larry31,819
  11. #1,409Dorothy27
More about 1949

girls

1,710,877 girls got a published name in 1949; 1 in 164 of them was named Dorothy, which outranked 99.5% of the 6,066 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 24.7% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).

Ranked beside Dorothy
  1. #29Gloria11,879
  2. #30Christine11,797
  3. #31Beverly10,552
  4. #32Dorothy10,410
  5. #33Marilyn9,865
  6. #34Martha9,808
  7. #35Bonnie9,732
Biggest movers since 1948
Risers
  1. ↑ 937Sharman#1,708 → #771
  2. ↑ 665Roseanna#1,422 → #757
  3. ↑ 483Shauna#1,173 → #690
  4. ↑ 293Jacalyn#1,116 → #823
  5. ↑ 267Sanjuana#1,185 → #918
Fallers
  1. ↓ 339Sandie#939 → #1,278
  2. ↓ 296Syble#955 → #1,251
  3. ↓ 272Shirleen#964 → #1,236
  4. ↓ 266Ginny#734 → #1,000
  5. ↓ 260Dina#861 → #1,121

Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.

boys

1,773,939 boys got a published name in 1949; 1 in 65,701 of them was named Dorothy, which outranked 66.5% of the 4,205 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 33.9% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).

Ranked beside Dorothy
  1. #1,380Waldo28
  2. #1,380Waverly28
  3. #1,380Weston28
  4. #1,409Dorothy27
  5. #1,409Albin27
  6. #1,409Arnie27
  7. #1,409Cipriano27
  8. #1,434Abelardo26
  9. #1,434Aloysius26
  10. #1,434Arch26

Tied with 24 names at #1,409; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.

Biggest movers since 1948
Risers
  1. ↑ 538Lannie#1,107 → #569
  2. ↑ 411Lenwood#1,296 → #885
  3. ↑ 338Robby#1,296 → #958
  4. ↑ 326Ocie#1,323 → #997
  5. ↑ 319Denzil#1,127 → #808
Fallers
  1. ↓ 473Loyal#989 → #1,462
  2. ↓ 446Rich#963 → #1,409
  3. ↓ 395Brock#733 → #1,128
  4. ↓ 376Baron#972 → #1,348
  5. ↓ 333Murry#989 → #1,322

Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.

See the top 100 for 1949 →