Dawnne
A feminine name derived from the English word for daybreak.
Name Census estimates that about 22 living Americans carry the first name Dawnne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dawnne today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dawnne births was 1966 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dawnne. 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 Dawnne. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
22
~ 1 in 15,579,743 Americans
Peak year
1966
9 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1969 SSA rank
#6,817
Tracked since 1959
Popularity
Dawnne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dawnne from the 1950s through to the 1960s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 20 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dawnne 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 Dawnne 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 Dawnne
The name Dawnne is an English variant of the name Dawn, which has its origins in the Middle English word "dawn," meaning the first appearance of light in the morning. The name is believed to have been derived from the Old English word "dæg," meaning day, and the suffix "-an," meaning morning.
The name Dawn was originally used as a poetic term to personify the morning, and it wasn't until the 17th century that it began to be used as a given name. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Dawnne can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, England, where a Dawnne Williamson was born in 1639.
In literature, one of the earliest notable references to the name Dawn can be found in William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest," where the character of Miranda says, "The morning cock crew loud, and at the dawn there rose a murmur of doves."
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Dawnne or its variants. In the 17th century, Dawnne Vaughan (1636-1711) was a British writer and poet who published works on religious and moral themes. In the 19th century, Dawnne Winser (1841-1919) was a British artist and painter known for her landscapes and portraits.
In the 20th century, Dawnne Kemp (1908-1987) was a British actress and singer who appeared in several films and stage productions. Dawnne Pritchett (1921-2005) was an American author and journalist who wrote several books on family and relationships.
Another notable bearer of the name was Dawnne Upshaw (born 1960), an American opera singer and soprano who has won numerous awards, including four Grammy Awards and the prestigious Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.
Overall, the name Dawnne is a unique and poetic variant of the more common name Dawn, with a rich history spanning several centuries and cultures.
People
Dawnne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dawnne 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
Dawnne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dawnne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dawnne 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 15,579,743 US residents.
Is Dawnne a common name?
We classify Dawnne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 41.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dawnne most popular?
The single biggest year for Dawnne was 1966, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dawnne is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Dawnne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dawnne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dawnne 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 Dawnne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dawnne 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 Dawnne 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Dawnne?
See how many Americans are named Dawnne on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.