Dawes
Of French origin, a name derived from the French rendition of "David".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Dawes. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dawes today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dawes births was 1924 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dawes. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dawes. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1924
9 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,467
Tracked since 1924
Popularity
Dawes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dawes from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 21 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dawes by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dawes during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dawes
The name Dawes is an English given name that originated as a surname derived from the Middle English word "dawe," meaning "day." The name can be traced back to the 13th century and was often used as a nickname for someone with a bright or sunny disposition.
In the early 15th century, the name appears in the historical records of Gloucestershire, England, where a man named John Dawes was recorded as a landowner. The name also appears in the parish records of Worcestershire in the 16th century, indicating its widespread use across different regions of England.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Dawes as a given name can be found in the writings of the English philosopher and mathematician Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). Hobbes mentions a contemporary named Dawes in his work "De Corpore" published in 1655.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Dawes. One of the most prominent was William Dawes (1745-1799), an American patriot who played a crucial role in the American Revolutionary War. Dawes was one of the riders who alerted the colonial militia to the British troops' movements, alongside Paul Revere, on the night of April 18-19, 1775.
Another notable figure was Sir William Dawes (1671-1724), an English classical scholar and scholar of Arabic. He served as the Master of St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, and was renowned for his translations of Arabic texts.
In the realm of music, we find William Rutter Dawes (1799-1868), an English composer and organist who was a prominent figure in the Victorian era. His compositions included numerous anthems and services for the Church of England.
The name Dawes also has literary connections. William James Dawson (1854-1928) was an English novelist and playwright, best known for his novel "The Maker of Moons" published in 1896.
Lastly, Henry L. Dawes (1816-1903) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a Senator from Massachusetts. He was instrumental in the formation of the Dawes Act of 1887, which aimed to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream American society.
People
Dawes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dawes as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dawes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dawes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dawes going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Dawes a common name?
We classify Dawes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 31 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dawes most popular?
The single biggest year for Dawes was 1924, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dawes is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dawes a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dawes in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.