Find out how popular the first name Dewey has been for the last 50 years (from 1974 to 2023) and learn more about the meaning and history.

Popularity of Dewey by gender

Based on the last 50 years of data, Dewey is exclusively a male name.

For the most recent data in 2023, there were 23 male babies and 0 female babies born with the name Dewey.

The history of the first name Dewey

The name Dewey is an English surname that later became a given name. It originated as a toponymic surname, derived from the Old English word "deaw" meaning "dew" or "moisture." The name likely referred to someone who lived near a dewy meadow or wetland area.

In its earliest recorded use as a surname, it appeared as "de la Dewe" in the 13th century Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, England. Over time, the surname evolved into the simplified form "Dewey." As a first name, Dewey became popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the United States.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the given name Dewey was Dewey Bates, an American politician who served as the 16th Governor of Delaware from 1873 to 1877. Another notable figure was Admiral George Dewey (1837-1917), a celebrated naval commander in the Spanish-American War, who became a national hero for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898.

The name gained further prominence with Melvil Dewey (1851-1931), an American librarian and educator who developed the Dewey Decimal Classification system for organizing library collections. This system, introduced in 1876, revolutionized library organization and is still widely used today.

In the field of philosophy, John Dewey (1859-1952) was a prominent American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. He was a leading proponent of the philosophical school of pragmatism and made significant contributions to the development of functional psychology and progressive education.

Another individual worth mentioning is Thomas E. Dewey (1902-1971), an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was also the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in 1944 and 1948, but lost both times to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, respectively.

Data source

The first name data used on this page comes from the Social Security Administration (SSA). They've been collecting data on baby names since 1880.

The history and meaning of the name Dewey was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dewey, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!