Dawsyn
A masculine variant of the Welsh name Davis meaning "Son of David".
Name Census estimates that about 1,630 living Americans carry the first name Dawsyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Dawsyn today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dawsyn births was 2017 (203 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dawsyn. 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
- • Dawsyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 210,279 Americans
Peak year
2017
203 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,513
Tracked since 1998
Gender
Gender distribution for Dawsyn
Dawsyn is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,642 total registrations, 562 (34.2%) were male and 1,080 (65.8%) were female.
Dawsyn as a male name
- Ranked #3,993 in 2024
- 27 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (48 births)
Dawsyn as a female name
- Ranked #3,513 in 2024
- 44 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (162 births)
Popularity
Dawsyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dawsyn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 904 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dawsyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dawsyn 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 Dawsyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dawsyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Dawsyn, while Pennsylvania, Missouri, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dawsyn
The name Dawsyn is derived from the Old English word "dæges" which means "day" or "dawn." It is believed to have originated in the Anglo-Saxon regions of England during the 5th to 11th centuries. The name was originally spelled as "Daweseyn" or "Daweseyne" and was a masculine name given to boys born around sunrise or at the break of dawn.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Dawsyn can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings and valuations in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Daweseyn" in reference to a landowner in the county of Norfolk.
In the 12th century, the name Dawsyn was mentioned in the medieval work "The Lay of Havelok the Dane," a narrative poem written in Middle English. This literary reference suggests that the name was in use during the Anglo-Norman period.
During the Middle Ages, the name Dawsyn was associated with several notable individuals. Dawsyn de Montfort (1235-1265) was an English nobleman and military commander who fought alongside his father, Simon de Montfort, in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III.
Another historical figure bearing the name Dawsyn was Dawsyn Chaucer (1340-1400), an English philosopher and author who was the son of the renowned poet Geoffrey Chaucer. He is known for his work "De Duplici Natura Hominis" (On the Two Natures of Man).
In the 16th century, Dawsyn Digges (1520-1559) was an English mathematician and surveyor who made significant contributions to the field of cartography. He is credited with introducing the use of the theodolite, an instrument for measuring angles, in surveying.
During the English Renaissance, the name Dawsyn was associated with Dawsyn Marlowe (1564-1593), an English playwright and poet who is best known for his plays "Doctor Faustus" and "The Jew of Malta." He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and is considered one of the most influential dramatists of the Elizabethan era.
In the 18th century, Dawsyn Swift (1705-1783) was an Irish clergyman and author who is remembered for his biographical work on his cousin, the satirist Jonathan Swift. His book "An Essay on the Life, Writings, and Character of Dr. Jonathan Swift" provides valuable insights into the life of one of the most renowned writers of the Augustan Age.
People
Dawsyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dawsyn 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
Dawsyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dawsyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,630 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dawsyn 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 210,279 US residents.
Is Dawsyn a common name?
We classify Dawsyn as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,642 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dawsyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Dawsyn was 2017, when 203 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dawsyn is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dawsyn a female name?
Yes, 65.8% of people registered as Dawsyn 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.
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.