Girls' name · peaked in 1881
Dora name popularity since 1925
58,638 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dora. Half of them were born in 1948 or earlier, so the typical Dora is about 78 years old in 2026. Dora peaked in 1881 as the #46 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 58,638
- Named Dora, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1881
- #46 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,388 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.5% girls
- 58,333 girls · 305 boys
- Most popular in
- New Mexico
- 3.54× its national share
Peak year is the year Dora made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Dora births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Dora peaked earlier, in 1881.
- Steepest fall: Between 2002 and 2007, Dora's share of baby girls fell by 43%, from 1 in 11,000 to 1 in 19,200.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Dora's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dora.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dora in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 8,733 | 66 | – |
| 1930s | 12,387 | 96 | #168 |
| 1940s | 9,717 | 49 | #216 |
| 1950s | 9,285 | 38 | #286 |
| 1960s | 7,418 | 33 | #335 |
| 1970s | 3,941 | 18 | #464 |
| 1980s | 2,378 | 5 | #746 |
| 1990s | 1,734 | 0 | #1,068 |
| 2000s | 1,384 | 0 | #1,391 |
| 2010s | 919 | 0 | #1,973 |
| 2020–25 | 437 | 0 | #2,388 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
36.7% of babies named Dora from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Dora is most popular
The index compares Dora'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 Dora.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 3.54× | 1,071 |
| Mississippi | 2.84× | 1,884 |
| Texas | 2.81× | 12,071 |
| West Virginia | 2.25× | 1,082 |
| Kentucky | 2.05× | 1,874 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dora's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dora.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dora (1881).
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