How Many People Are Named Dorothea?
An estimated 8,585 people in the United States have the first name Dorothea. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 63 years old, and Dorothea peaked in popularity in 1920 with 1,110 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Dorothea 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 Dorothea paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
8,585
About 1 in 39,925 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
63
years old
Peak Year
1920
1,110 births
Total Registered
34,314
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Dorothea
Dorothea is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 34,314 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Dorothea as a male name
Ranked #3,634 in 1956
6 male births in 1956
Peak: 1956 (6 births)
Dorothea as a female name
Ranked #2,066 in 2024
93 female births in 2024
Peak: 1920 (1,110 births)
Dorothea: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Dorothea span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 8,518 babies were registered. Dorothea has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Dorothea by Decade
How has Dorothea 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.
Dorothea by State
Birth registrations for Dorothea span all 49 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts. The lowest are in New Mexico, Wyoming, Delaware. On average, about 547 Dorotheas were registered per state.
Dorothea + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Dorothea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Dorothea
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
Dorothea: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dorothea?
We estimate approximately 8,585 people named Dorothea 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 39,925 Americans share this first name.
Is Dorothea a common name?
Dorothea is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 34,314 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Dorothea most popular?
Dorothea reached peak popularity in 1920, when 1,110 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Dorothea is approximately 63 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Dorothea a female name?
Dorothea is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Dorothea Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Dorothea Smith, Dorothea Johnson, Dorothea 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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