Boys' name · peaked in 1898
Dewey name popularity since 1925
24,747 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dewey (0.9% girls, 99.1% boys). Half of them were born in 1946 or earlier, so the typical Dewey is about 80 years old in 2026. Dewey peaked in 1898 as the #19 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 24,747
- Named Dewey, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1898
- #19 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,870 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.1% boys
- 230 girls · 24,517 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 4.92× its national share
Peak year is the year Dewey 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.
Dewey births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Dewey peaked earlier, in 1898.
- Steepest fall: Between 1944 and 1949, Dewey's share of baby boys fell by 46%, from 1 in 2,090 to 1 in 3,850.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Dewey's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dewey.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dewey 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 | 77 | 3,594 | – |
| 1930s | 104 | 5,328 | #231 |
| 1940s | 38 | 5,372 | #273 |
| 1950s | 11 | 3,831 | #362 |
| 1960s | 0 | 2,627 | #473 |
| 1970s | 0 | 1,635 | #630 |
| 1980s | 0 | 921 | #1,138 |
| 1990s | 0 | 492 | #2,221 |
| 2000s | 0 | 317 | #3,336 |
| 2010s | 0 | 234 | #5,352 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 166 | #3,870 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
40.5% of babies named Dewey from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Dewey is most popular
The index compares Dewey'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 Dewey.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 4.92× | 907 |
| Kentucky | 4.40× | 1,545 |
| Alabama | 3.71× | 1,374 |
| North Carolina | 3.66× | 2,174 |
| Tennessee | 3.44× | 1,517 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dewey's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dewey.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dewey (1898).
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