Dewitte
Of French origin, meaning "the white one" or "the fair one".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Dewitte. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dewitte today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dewitte births was 1920 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dewitte. 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
- • The typical person named Dewitte is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Dewittes were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dewitte. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1920
10 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1950 SSA rank
#3,103
Tracked since 1917
Popularity
Dewitte: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dewitte from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dewitte 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 Dewitte 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 Dewitte
The given name Dewitte has its origins in the Dutch and Flemish languages. It is a combination of two words, "de" meaning "the" and "witte" meaning "white." The name likely emerged in the medieval period, with early records showing variations in spelling such as Dewit, Dewitt, and Dewit.
In the Netherlands and Flanders, the name Dewitte was often associated with fair-haired or pale-complexioned individuals. It may have been used as a descriptive surname before becoming a given name in its own right. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 13th century, appearing in various municipal records and genealogical documents from the Low Countries.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Dewitte was Jan Dewitte, a Flemish painter active in the late 15th century. His works, primarily religious paintings and altarpieces, can be found in churches and museums throughout Belgium and the Netherlands.
In the 17th century, Cornelis Dewitte emerged as a significant figure in the Dutch Golden Age of painting. Born in 1536 and dying in 1622, Dewitte was renowned for his landscape paintings and depictions of everyday life in the Netherlands.
The name Dewitte also has connections to the world of literature. Pieter Dewitte, a Dutch writer and poet born in 1678, gained recognition for his satirical works and commentary on contemporary society. His collection of poems, "De Spiegel der Zeden" (The Mirror of Manners), remains a notable work from the Dutch literature of that era.
Moving to the 19th century, Marie Dewitte, a Belgian novelist and feminist, made her mark with her writings advocating for women's rights and social reforms. Born in 1832 and dying in 1906, she was a prominent figure in the literary circles of her time.
In more recent history, the name Dewitte has been associated with notable figures in various fields. Jacques Dewitte, a French artist born in 1925, gained acclaim for his abstract expressionist paintings and influential role in the post-war art movement in France.
It is important to note that while the name Dewitte has a rich history and cultural significance, especially in the Low Countries, its usage and popularity may have evolved over time, and modern records may not accurately reflect its historical prevalence.
People
Dewitte + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dewitte 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
Dewitte: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dewitte?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dewitte 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Dewitte a common name?
We classify Dewitte as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dewitte most popular?
The single biggest year for Dewitte was 1920, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dewitte is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dewitte a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dewitte 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.
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.