How Many People Are Named Dorothy Smith?

There are approximately 1,651 people named Dorothy Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination common, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 207,604 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Dorothy with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.

Estimated People with This Name

1,651

1 in 207,604 Americans

Combination Rarity

Common

Very Rare Very Common

First Name

Dorothy

Last Name

Smith

Est. Bearers 2,717,332

Census Rank #1

Per 100K 792.79

Rarity Very Common

Dorothy: Popularity Over Time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Dorothy. The peak year was 1924 with 40,097 births. The average person named Dorothy today is 72 years old.

Male

Female

Ancestry of the First Name Dorothy

In the 2020 Census, the first name Dorothy was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (74.45%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (19.71%) and Hispanic (2.19%).

These percentages describe the people who had the first name Dorothy in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.

Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Dorothy rose or fell over time.

White

74.45%

Black

19.71%

Hispanic

2.19%

Asian/Pacific Islander

1.27%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.57%

Two or More Races

1.82%

Ancestry of the Smith Surname

The surname Smith was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.

This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Smith in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.

White

67.99%

Black

22.62%

Hispanic

3.50%

Asian/Pacific Islander

0.68%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.83%

Two or More Races

4.37%

How we calculated this

The first name "Dorothy" has an estimated frequency of 0.0608% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.

The surname "Smith" appears at a rate of 792.79 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.

We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Dorothy are likely to be alive now.

Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 1,651 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.

Other people named Dorothy

Dorothy Johnson Dorothy Williams Dorothy Brown Dorothy Jones Dorothy Garcia Dorothy Davis Dorothy Mann

Other people with the surname Smith

Michael Smith James Smith John Smith David Smith Robert Smith William Smith Christopher Smith Joseph Smith

Dorothy Smith: Questions and Answers

How many people are named Dorothy Smith?

We estimate approximately 1,651 people named Dorothy Smith are alive in the United States today. The first name Dorothy is shared by 208,282 Americans, and the surname Smith is shared by 2,717,332.

How rare is the name Dorothy Smith?

This name combination is classified as Common, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 207,604 Americans. The first name Dorothy is common and the surname Smith is very common.

Is Dorothy a male or female name?

Dorothy is predominantly female, with 0.3% of bearers being male and 99.7% female. It peaked in popularity in 1924 and the average bearer today is 72 years old.

What does the Census say about the first name Dorothy?

In the 2020 Census, the first name Dorothy was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (74.45%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (19.71%) and Hispanic (2.19%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.

Where does this data come from?

First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.

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