Dinorah
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "gift from God".
Name Census estimates that about 523 living Americans carry the first name Dinorah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dinorah today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dinorah births was 1968 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dinorah. 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
523
~ 1 in 655,362 Americans
Peak year
1968
25 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,935
Tracked since 1958
Census
Dinorah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,228 people with the first name Dinorah, which placed it at #6,995 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
#6,995
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,228 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dinorah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dinorah is Hispanic at 95.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Dinorah 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 Dinorah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.9% · 2,137
- White2.7% · 61
- Black or African American0.9% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 6
- Two or more races0.2% · 4
Popularity
Dinorah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dinorah from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 122 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dinorah 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 Dinorah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dinorahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Dinorah, while California, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dinorah
Dinorah is a feminine given name of Spanish origin, derived from the Hebrew name Dina, which means "judged" or "vindicated." The name can be traced back to biblical times and the Book of Genesis, where Dina is mentioned as the daughter of Jacob and Leah.
The earliest recorded use of the name Dinorah dates back to the 13th century in Spain, where it was a variant of the Hebrew name Dina. During this period, the name was popular among Jewish communities in Spain and was later adopted by Christians as well.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Dinorah can be found in the medieval Spanish epic poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid," which was written in the 12th century. In the poem, there is a character named Dinorah who is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman.
In the 16th century, the name gained popularity in Portugal, where it was often spelled as "Dionora" or "Dionora." During this time, it was associated with the Portuguese nobility and was borne by several women of noble descent.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women named Dinorah. One of the earliest was Dinorah de Ecija, a 13th-century Spanish poet and mystic who was renowned for her devotional writings. Another was Dinorah Cardoso (1834-1904), a Portuguese writer and feminist who campaigned for women's rights and education.
In the 19th century, the name became popular in France, where it was often spelled as "Dinorah." One of the most famous bearers of the name was the French operatic soprano Dinorah Valentin (1848-1923), who was renowned for her performances in the operas of Gounod and Massenet.
Another notable Dinorah was Dinorah Duhalde (1905-1983), an Argentine writer and journalist who was known for her contributions to children's literature. She published several books of stories and poems for children, and her work was widely acclaimed in Latin America.
In the 20th century, the name continued to be popular in Spanish-speaking countries, particularly in Mexico and Central America. One of the most famous Dinorahs of this era was Dinorah Prieto (1929-1996), a Mexican singer and actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows and was known for her powerful voice and stage presence.
People
Dinorah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dinorah 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
Dinorah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dinorah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 523 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dinorah 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 655,362 US residents.
Is Dinorah a common name?
We classify Dinorah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 569 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dinorah most popular?
The single biggest year for Dinorah was 1968, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dinorah is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dinorah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,228 people with the name Dinorah, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,995 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 Dinorah 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 Dinorah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dinorah appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,240 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Dinorah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dinorah is Hispanic at 95.9%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Dinorah most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dinorah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.9% (2,137 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 Dinorah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dinorah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dinorah 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 Dinorah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dinorah 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 Dinorah 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 Americans are named Dinorah?
Want to know how many Americans are named Dinorah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.