Boys' name · peaked in 1959
Dave name popularity since 1925
56,315 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dave. Half of them were born in 1958 or earlier, so the typical Dave is about 68 years old in 2026. Dave peaked in 1959 as the #119 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 56,315
- Named Dave, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,456 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% boys
- 89 girls · 56,226 boys
- Most popular in
- Montana
- 2.76× its national share
Peak year is the year Dave made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Dave births per year, 1925–2025
1959 was the biggest year for Dave both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1954 and 1959, Dave became 3.8× more common, from 1 in 2,440 baby boys to 1 in 645.
- Steepest fall: Between 1961 and 1966, its share of baby boys fell by 63%, from 1 in 758 to 1 in 2,050.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Dave's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dave.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dave in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 7 | 1,749 | – |
| 1930s | 7 | 4,818 | #247 |
| 1940s | 27 | 11,740 | #164 |
| 1950s | 14 | 14,837 | #223 |
| 1960s | 34 | 15,774 | #211 |
| 1970s | 0 | 2,589 | #591 |
| 1980s | 0 | 1,517 | #723 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,106 | #1,056 |
| 2000s | 0 | 987 | #1,463 |
| 2010s | 0 | 717 | #2,152 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 392 | #2,456 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
57.5% of babies named Dave from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Dave is most popular
The index compares Dave's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Dave.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | 2.76× | 428 |
| Washington | 2.35× | 2,086 |
| Michigan | 2.11× | 4,284 |
| Oregon | 2.09× | 1,042 |
| Ohio | 1.92× | 4,701 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dave's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dave.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dave (1959).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data