Girls' name · peaked in 1923
Dorothy name popularity since 1925
662,837 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dorothy. Half of them were born in 1936 or earlier, so the typical Dorothy is about 90 years old in 2026. Dorothy peaked in 1923 as the #2 name for girls, and it ranked #421 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 662,837
- Named Dorothy, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1923
- #2 for girls that year
- In 2025
- #421
- for girls in 2025 (743 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 660,225 girls · 2,612 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 2.80× its national share
Peak year is the year Dorothy 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.
Dorothy births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Dorothy peaked earlier, in 1923.
- Steepest fall: Between 1964 and 1969, Dorothy's share of baby girls fell by 44%, from 1 in 536 to 1 in 950.
- Fastest rise: Between 2012 and 2017, it became 1.9× more common, from 1 in 6,310 baby girls to 1 in 3,410.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Dorothy's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dorothy.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dorothy 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 | 176,390 | 582 | – |
| 1930s | 210,415 | 1,106 | #6 |
| 1940s | 132,257 | 509 | #21 |
| 1950s | 74,475 | 237 | #64 |
| 1960s | 33,011 | 132 | #130 |
| 1970s | 11,664 | 24 | #250 |
| 1980s | 7,143 | 22 | #332 |
| 1990s | 4,211 | 0 | #597 |
| 2000s | 2,717 | 0 | #1,025 |
| 2010s | 3,958 | 0 | #714 |
| 2020–25 | 3,984 | 0 | #421 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
54.7% of babies named Dorothy from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Dorothy is most popular
The index compares Dorothy'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 Dorothy.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 2.80× | 22,584 |
| Alabama | 2.01× | 23,669 |
| South Carolina | 1.89× | 17,626 |
| Arkansas | 1.86× | 12,710 |
| Pennsylvania | 1.56× | 52,664 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Dorothy and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Dorothy (this page) | 660,225 | 1923 |
| Dorathy | 1,065 | 1918 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dorothy's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dorothy.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dorothy (1923).
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