Boys' name · peaked in 1961
Dean name popularity since 1925
185,770 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dean (1.2% girls, 98.8% boys). Half of them were born in 1964 or earlier, so the typical Dean is about 62 years old in 2026. Dean peaked in 1961 as the #84 name for boys, and it ranked #125 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 185,770
- Named Dean, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #125
- for boys in 2025 (2,876 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 98.8% boys
- 2,221 girls · 183,549 boys
- Most popular in
- North Dakota
- 3.61× its national share
Peak year is the year Dean 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.
Dean births per year, 1925–2025
1961 was the biggest year for Dean both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Steepest fall: Between 1969 and 1974, Dean's share of baby boys fell by 60%, from 1 in 519 to 1 in 1,290.
- Fastest rise: Between 2006 and 2011, it became 1.7× more common, from 1 in 2,640 baby boys to 1 in 1,540.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Dean's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dean.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dean 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 | 309 | 6,346 | – |
| 1930s | 560 | 13,629 | #120 |
| 1940s | 446 | 16,356 | #136 |
| 1950s | 308 | 34,584 | #111 |
| 1960s | 284 | 42,527 | #88 |
| 1970s | 147 | 13,898 | #211 |
| 1980s | 80 | 8,059 | #267 |
| 1990s | 16 | 8,122 | #333 |
| 2000s | 13 | 8,035 | #383 |
| 2010s | 28 | 17,497 | #204 |
| 2020–25 | 30 | 14,496 | #125 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
35.7% of babies named Dean from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Dean is most popular
The index compares Dean'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 Dean.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 3.61× | 2,092 |
| South Dakota | 3.22× | 1,887 |
| Iowa | 2.81× | 6,570 |
| Hawaii | 2.59× | 1,487 |
| Minnesota | 2.55× | 8,572 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Dean and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Dean (this page) | 183,549 | 1961 |
| Deane | 2,332 | 1933 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dean's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dean.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dean (1961).
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