Dorothy

First Name
1.1m
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
798
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
Boys
On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Dorothy
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Dorothy
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Ethnicity Distribution
  9. Fun Facts
  10. What Dorothys Have Visited This Page?
  11. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Dorothy

Play Accuracy Source
92%
User from Massachusetts, U.S.
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85%
Automated Female (English)
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84%
Automated Male (English)
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79%
User from California, U.S.
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77%
User from Florida, U.S.
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74%
User from Belize
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73%
User from Louisiana, U.S.
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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Dorothy mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Dorothy

User Submitted Origins

     Greek
50%
     African American
33%
     English
8%
     Native American
8%

User Submitted Meanings

  • According to a user from Florida, United States, the name Dorothy is of African American origin and means "Loving mother and friend".
  • According to a user from Australia, the name Dorothy is of Greek origin and means "Gift of God, from Ancient Greek doros (gift) and theos (God)".
  • A user from Georgia, United States says the name Dorothy means "A Gift from God".
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International Interest
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Wiktionary

The English form of Latin Dorothea, the name of a legendary (and possibly fictitious) saint, from Ancient Greek Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa), from δῶρον (dôron, “gift”) + θεός (theós, “god”).

  1. A female given name.
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Notable Persons Named Dorothy

Faye Dunaway

Faye Dunaway is an actress. Her ongoing career started in 1962. Faye was given the name Dorothy Faye Dunaway on January 14th, 1941 in Bascom, Florida.

Popularity:
Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge was an actor, singing, dance, actress, singer, and dancer. Her ongoing career started in 1933. Dorothy was given the name Dorothy Jean Dandridge by her parent Ruby Dandridge on November 9th, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. She died on September 8th, 1965.

Popularity:
Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was an author, poet, critic, and screenwriter. Dorothy was given the name Dorothy Rothschild on August 22nd, 1893 in Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S. She passed away on June 7th, 1967.

Popularity:
Dorothy Kilgallen

Dorothy Kilgallen was a media personality, author, journalist, and panelist. Dorothy was given the name Dorothy Mae Kilgallen on July 3rd, 1913 in New York, New York, U.S. She died on November 8th, 1965.

Popularity:
Dorothy Bush Koch

Dorothy was given the name Dorothy Walker Bush by her parents George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush on August 18th, 1959 in Harris County, Texas.

Popularity:
Dorothy Howell Rodham

She holds the title President Barack Obama after a ceremony in the White House on the life of Dorothy Rodham. Dorothy was given the name Dorothy Emma Howell on June 4th, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. She breathed her last breath on November 1st, 2011.

Popularity:
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Notable Persons With the Last Name Dorothy

Gould Dorothy

Gould was born on January 15th, 1910. She died on July 26th, 2000.

Popularity:
Nditi Dorothy

Nditi was born in 1973. Nditi is also known as Dorothy Nditi Muchungu, FATHER = Salesio Muchungu Kivandi, and MOTHER = Edith Kanini Muchungu.

Popularity:
Liesel Dorothy

Liesel was born on January 16th, 1984.

Popularity:
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How popular is the baby name Dorothy in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born Ranking
1880 112 112 0
1881 109 109 0
1882 115 115 0
1883 141 141 0
1884 163 163 0
1885 196 196 0
1886 230 230 0
1887 272 272 0
1888 373 373 0
1889 377 377 0
1890 458 458 0 #93 girl name
1891 566 566 0 #77 girl name
1892 626 626 0 #79 girl name
1893 821 821 0 #68 girl name
1894 1,059 1,052 7 #58 girl name
1895 1,132 1,127 5 #57 girl name
1896 1,366 1,366 0 #46 girl name
1897 1,478 1,472 6 #43 girl name
1898 1,671 1,671 0 #43 girl name
1899 1,695 1,687 8 #35 girl name
1900 2,499 2,491 8 #27 girl name
1901 2,173 2,173 0 #22 girl name
1902 2,714 2,707 7 #15 girl name
1903 3,085 3,078 7 #11 girl name
1904 3,494 3,477 17 #10 girl name
1905 3,948 3,937 11 #7 girl name
1906 4,346 4,326 20 #6 girl name
1907 4,988 4,967 21 #6 girl name
1908 5,722 5,703 19 #6 girl name
1909 6,279 6,253 26 #5 girl name
1910 7,342 7,318 24 #4 girl name
1911 8,900 8,869 31 #4 girl name
1912 12,687 12,645 42 #3 girl name
1913 14,717 14,674 43 #3 girl name
1914 18,822 18,782 40 #3 girl name
1915 25,198 25,154 44 #3 girl name
1916 27,489 27,417 72 #3 girl name
1917 28,911 28,851 60 #3 girl name
1918 32,091 32,032 59 #3 girl name
1919 31,800 31,734 66 #3 girl name
1920 36,719 36,643 76 #2 girl name
1921 39,173 39,086 87 #2 girl name
1922 37,782 37,716 66 #2 girl name
1923 39,136 39,044 92 #2 girl name
1924 40,098 39,997 101 #2 girl name
1925 38,669 38,570 99 #2 girl name
1926 36,734 36,615 119 #2 girl name
1927 36,115 35,991 124 #2 girl name
1928 33,852 33,730 122 #3 girl name
1929 31,596 31,478 118 #3 girl name
1930 30,560 30,407 153 #3 girl name
1931 26,663 26,522 141 #3 girl name
1932 25,085 24,973 112 #4 girl name
1933 22,164 22,047 117 #4 girl name
1934 21,399 21,283 116 #5 girl name
1935 19,524 19,403 121 #6 girl name
1936 17,769 17,668 101 #6 girl name
1937 16,645 16,572 73 #8 girl name
1938 16,446 16,347 99 #8 girl name
1939 15,244 15,171 73 #9 girl name
1940 14,962 14,877 85 #12 girl name
1941 14,635 14,563 72 #14 girl name
1942 15,094 15,032 62 #17 girl name
1943 14,855 14,789 66 #19 girl name
1944 13,427 13,380 47 #19 girl name
1945 12,377 12,325 52 #21 girl name
1946 12,840 12,798 42 #23 girl name
1947 12,782 12,750 32 #26 girl name
1948 11,348 11,324 24 #29 girl name
1949 10,434 10,407 27 #32 girl name
1950 9,580 9,552 28 #35 girl name
1951 9,120 9,090 30 #42 girl name
1952 8,639 8,614 25 #46 girl name
1953 8,173 8,154 19 #49 girl name
1954 7,816 7,794 22 #55 girl name
1955 7,269 7,239 30 #65 girl name
1956 6,880 6,857 23 #72 girl name
1957 6,426 6,399 27 #74 girl name
1958 5,559 5,540 19 #86 girl name
1959 5,251 5,237 14 #94 girl name
1960 5,097 5,076 21 #95 girl name
1961 4,741 4,728 13 #99 girl name
1962 4,090 4,074 16
1963 3,802 3,792 10
1964 3,547 3,535 12
1965 2,973 2,960 13
1966 2,678 2,666 12
1967 2,328 2,316 12
1968 2,095 2,084 11
1969 1,789 1,777 12
1970 1,804 1,799 5
1971 1,624 1,624 0
1972 1,281 1,274 7
1973 1,181 1,174 7
1974 1,099 1,099 0
1975 979 974 5
1976 983 983 0
1977 934 934 0
1978 913 913 0
1979 889 889 0
1980 895 895 0
1981 793 788 5
1982 829 829 0
1983 765 759 6
1984 681 681 0
1985 724 719 5
1986 629 629 0
1987 614 614 0
1988 608 608 0
1989 626 620 6
1990 596 596 0
1991 498 498 0
1992 510 510 0
1993 476 476 0
1994 442 442 0
1995 376 376 0
1996 350 350 0
1997 315 315 0
1998 312 312 0
1999 335 335 0
2000 313 313 0
2001 319 319 0
2002 263 263 0
2003 291 291 0
2004 289 289 0
2005 234 234 0
2006 265 265 0
2007 262 262 0
2008 242 242 0
2009 226 226 0
2010 242 242 0
2011 278 278 0
2012 277 277 0
2013 335 335 0
2014 384 384 0
2015 397 397 0
2016 452 452 0
2017 498 498 0
* Years where the name was given to 5 or fewer babies will show zero to respect privacy.
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Where is the name Dorothy popular?

International Interest for Dorothy

Interest is based how many people viewed this name from each country and is scaled based on the total views by each country so that large countries do not always show the most interest. Darker blue on the map indicates that people in the country are more likely to search for this name.

Longer bars in the bar graph indicate that people in the country are more interested in the name. Not all countries that have shown an interest in the name are listed in the bar graph.

United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Germany
South Africa
Philippines
Ghana
New Zealand
Uganda
Zambia

Popularity in the US

View popular names by state or region.

Popularity of Dorothy as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Dorothy as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Mississippi, Pennsylvania, or Arkansas.

Popularity of Dorothy as a last name

The map shows the absolute popularity of the name Dorothy as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in Iowa, Illinois, or California.

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Common last names for Dorothy

  • Smith
  • Johnson
  • Brown
  • Miller
  • Williams
  • Jones
  • Davis
  • Anderson
  • Wilson
  • Moore
  • Martin
  • Taylor
  • Thompson
  • White
  • Thomas
  • Clark
  • Jackson
  • Harris
  • Lewis
  • Hall

Common first names for Dorothy

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Dorothy U.S.
â–ˆ  White 84.34% 64.26%
â–ˆ  African American 9.27% 11.96%
â–ˆ  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 0.63% 4.85%
â–ˆ  American Indian and Alaska Native 1.50% 0.69%
â–ˆ  Two or More Ethnicities 2.01% 1.76%
â–ˆ  Hispanic or Latino 2.26% 16.26%

Of Last Name Dorothy

People with the last name Dorothy are most frequently White

Entire United States

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Fun Facts about the name Dorothy

  • What name lists does Dorothy rank for?
    #9Most Popular Girl Name
    #3Old-Fashioned Girl Names
  • How Popular is the name Dorothy? Dorothy is the 34th most popular name of all time. As a last name Dorothy was the 29,550th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Dorothy have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 1,110,773 babies born with the first name Dorothy in the United States. That's more than enough people named Dorothy to occupy the country of Timor-Leste with an estimated population of 1,066,409 (as of July 11, 2010).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Dorothy? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1880 when it was given as a first name to 112 new born babies.
  • When was Dorothy first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Dorothy is Monday, February 13th, 1837.
  • What year had the most people named Dorothy born? The highest recorded use of the first name Dorothy was in 1924 with a total of 39,997 babies. That's a lot of babies named Dorothy!
  • Random Dorothy Factoid: According to the 1913 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Dorothy ranks 2nd in popularity as a baby girl's name in Washington. Imagine that, 222 babies in Washington have the same name as you in 1913.
  • Weird things about the name Dorothy: Your name in reverse order is Yhtorod. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Drhytoo. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Dorothy? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 798 people with the last name Dorothy.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Dorothy? Chances are, most people haven't met someone with Dorothy as their last name since less than 1 person in 370k people have that last name. If you know one, consider yourself lucky!
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What Dorothys Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Dorothy

Name poster for Dorothy(click to save the high quality version)

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Most Popular Names

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All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.