Dawit
An Amharic masculine given name meaning "beloved" or "darling".
Name Census estimates that about 545 living Americans carry the first name Dawit. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dawit today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dawit births was 2013 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dawit. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dawit with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
545
~ 1 in 628,907 Americans
Peak year
2013
26 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,476
Tracked since 1984
Census
Dawit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,150 people with the first name Dawit, which placed it at #7,169 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,169
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dawit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dawit is Black at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dawit described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dawit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.3% · 2,071
- White1.3% · 27
- Two or more races0.9% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Dawit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dawit from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 181 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dawit remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dawit 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 Dawit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dawits live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Texas recorded the most babies named Dawit, while Texas, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dawit
The name Dawit is derived from the Hebrew name David, which means "beloved" or "uncle." It has its origins in ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible, where David was a famous king of ancient Israel, renowned for his bravery, leadership, and devotion to God.
The name David appears numerous times throughout the Hebrew Bible, most notably in the books of Samuel, where the life and reign of King David are chronicled. David's story is deeply intertwined with Jewish and Christian traditions, and his name has been widely adopted across various cultures and languages.
The name Dawit is the Amharic variant of David, and it is commonly used in Ethiopia, a country with a rich history and strong ties to ancient Judeo-Christian traditions. The Amharic language, which is the official language of Ethiopia, has its roots in the Semitic language family, and the name Dawit has been in use among Ethiopians for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Dawit in Ethiopian history is Dawit I, also known as David I, who was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1382 to 1413. He was a renowned ruler who strengthened the Ethiopian Empire and played a significant role in the spread of Christianity in the region.
Another notable figure named Dawit was Dawit II, who ruled Ethiopia from 1508 to 1540. He was known for his military campaigns and his efforts to maintain the unity of the Ethiopian Empire. Dawit II was also a patron of the arts and supported the construction of several churches and monasteries.
In more recent history, Dawit Ogbaghiorghis was an Eritrean-Ethiopian artist and writer who lived from 1928 to 2018. He was renowned for his contributions to the arts and literature, and his works often explored themes of identity, culture, and social issues.
Dawit Bairu is another notable figure who was an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He won the Boston Marathon in 2016 and has represented Ethiopia in numerous international competitions, including the Olympic Games.
Dawit Eshetu, born in 1988, is an Ethiopian photographer and artist whose work has been exhibited globally. His photographs often explore themes of identity, memory, and cultural heritage, and he has received numerous awards and accolades for his work.
While the name Dawit is primarily associated with Ethiopia and the Amharic language, it has also been adopted by individuals from various cultural backgrounds, reflecting the global reach and influence of the biblical name David.
People
Dawit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dawit 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
Dawit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dawit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 545 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dawit 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 628,907 US residents.
Is Dawit a common name?
We classify Dawit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 553 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dawit most popular?
The single biggest year for Dawit was 2013, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dawit is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dawit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,150 people with the name Dawit, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,169 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dawit in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dawit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dawit appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,145 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dawit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dawit is Black at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dawit most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dawit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (2,071 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dawit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dawit a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dawit 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.
Is Dawit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dawit in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dawit can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Dawit?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Dawit at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.