How Many People Are Named Dave?
An estimated 39,407 people in the United States have the first name Dave. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 64 years old, and Dave peaked in popularity in 1959 with 3,308 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Dave as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Dave paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Dave is overwhelmingly male, 114 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Dave has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
39,407
About 1 in 8,698 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.8% confidence
Average Age
64
years old
Peak Year
1959
3,308 births
Total Registered
64,442
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Dave
Dave is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 64,442 total births registered, 99.8% were male.
Dave as a male name
Ranked #2,012 in 2024
76 male births in 2024
Peak: 1959 (3,308 births)
Dave as a female name
Ranked #7,706 in 1969
5 female births in 1969
Peak: 1918 (9 births)
Dave: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Dave span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 15,808 babies were registered. Dave has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Dave by Decade
How has Dave tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,344 | 1,339 | 5 | |
| 1890s | 1,281 | 1,281 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 1,133 | 1,133 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 2,730 | 2,716 | 14 | |
| 1920s | 3,445 | 3,432 | 13 | |
| 1930s | 4,825 | 4,818 | 7 | |
| 1940s | 11,767 | 11,740 | 27 | |
| 1950s | 14,854 | 14,840 | 14 | |
| 1960s | 15,808 | 15,774 | 34 | |
| 1970s | 2,591 | 2,591 | 0 | |
| 1980s | 1,518 | 1,518 | 0 | |
| 1990s | 1,106 | 1,106 | 0 | |
| 2000s | 987 | 987 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 716 | 716 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 337 | 337 | 0 | |
Dave by State
Birth registrations for Dave span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Ohio, Michigan. The lowest are in Delaware, Vermont, Alaska. On average, about 1,103 Daves were registered per state.
Dave + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Dave as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Dave
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
Dave: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dave?
We estimate approximately 39,407 people named Dave are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 8,698 Americans share this first name.
Is Dave a common name?
Dave is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 64,442 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Dave most popular?
Dave reached peak popularity in 1959, when 3,308 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Dave is approximately 64 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Dave a male name?
Dave is predominantly male. 99.8% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Dave Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Dave Smith, Dave Johnson, Dave Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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