Dawnita
Variant of Dawn, meaning "sunrise" in English.
Name Census estimates that about 301 living Americans carry the first name Dawnita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dawnita today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dawnita births was 1967 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dawnita. 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.
People living today
301
~ 1 in 1,138,719 Americans
Peak year
1967
23 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1997 SSA rank
#12,463
Tracked since 1951
Census
Dawnita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 324 people with the first name Dawnita, which placed it at #27,953 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
#27,953
National first-name rank
People counted
324
324 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dawnita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dawnita is White at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Dawnita 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 Dawnita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.8% · 210
- Black or African American21.6% · 70
- Two or more races7.4% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 9
Popularity
Dawnita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dawnita from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 136 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dawnita 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 Dawnita 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 Dawnita
The name Dawnita is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the 20th century as a feminine variation of the English word "dawn." The name does not have any known linguistic roots in ancient languages or cultural traditions, and its origins are primarily symbolic, reflecting a connection to the first light of a new day.
Dawnita is an English name, and its emergence can be traced back to the United States, where it gained popularity as a given name for baby girls born in the mid-20th century. The name's construction, combining the word "dawn" with the feminine suffix "-ita," suggests it was created to evoke a sense of freshness, new beginnings, and the beauty of sunrise.
While there are no known historical references or ancient texts mentioning the name Dawnita, its symbolic association with the dawn has been explored in literature and poetry throughout various periods. Poets and writers have often used the imagery of dawn to represent hope, rebirth, and the cycle of life.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Dawnita was Dawnita Wilburn, an American singer and songwriter born in 1945. She was active in the country and western music scene in the 1960s and 1970s, releasing several albums and singles during her career.
Another notable Dawnita was Dawnita Rambo, an American gospel singer and songwriter born in 1952. She was a member of the renowned Rambo Family, a prominent musical group in the southern gospel genre. Dawnita Rambo contributed to the group's success and released several solo albums throughout her career.
Dawnita Polidor, born in 1957, was a professional wrestler known by her ring name, Miss Dawn Marie. She competed in various wrestling promotions, including the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), during the 1980s and 1990s.
In the field of education, Dawnita Altieri, born in 1962, is a notable figure. She served as the Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents and has been recognized for her contributions to educational leadership.
Lastly, Dawnita St. Louis, born in 1965, is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She has appeared in several television series and films, including roles in "North of 60" and "The Rez," a film she also co-wrote and co-produced.
While relatively uncommon, the name Dawnita has been bestowed upon individuals throughout the latter half of the 20th century, often reflecting a desire to associate the child with the symbolic qualities of a new dawn, such as hope, freshness, and the promise of a bright future.
People
Dawnita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dawnita 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
Dawnita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dawnita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 301 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dawnita 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 1,138,719 US residents.
Is Dawnita a common name?
We classify Dawnita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 348 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dawnita most popular?
The single biggest year for Dawnita was 1967, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dawnita is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dawnita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 324 people with the name Dawnita, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,953 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 Dawnita 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 Dawnita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dawnita appears almost entirely female. Of the 322 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Dawnita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dawnita is White at 64.8%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Dawnita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dawnita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.8% (210 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 Dawnita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dawnita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dawnita in the SSA data are female. 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 Dawnita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dawnita 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 Dawnita 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 many people have the name Dawnita?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.