Dodge
From a surname derived from the English verb meaning to evade.
Name Census estimates that about 661 living Americans carry the first name Dodge. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dodge today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dodge births was 2010 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dodge. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dodge with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
661
~ 1 in 518,539 Americans
Peak year
2010
37 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,912
Tracked since 1937
Census
Dodge in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 662 people with the first name Dodge, which placed it at #16,878 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
#16,878
National first-name rank
People counted
662
662 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dodge
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dodge is White at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Dodge 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 Dodge at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.1% · 557
- Two or more races4.8% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 22
- Black or African American3.0% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Dodge: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dodge from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 281 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dodge remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dodge 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 Dodge during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dodges live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dodge
The given name Dodge is an English masculine name that originated as a nickname from the Old English word "docga," which means "a doggy or little dog." The name's origins can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 5th to 11th centuries.
In its early usage, Dodge was not necessarily a formal given name but rather a descriptive nickname used to refer to someone who exhibited characteristics associated with dogs, such as loyalty, playfulness, or a tenacious nature. The nickname eventually evolved into a proper given name as it gained popularity over time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dodge can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and properties in England compiled in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. The name appears as a surname in this document, indicating its use as a descriptive identifier during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Dodge. One of the most renowned was Dodge Billingsley (1613-1689), an English merchant and politician who served as a member of the British Parliament during the 17th century. Another prominent figure was Dodge Macknight (1760-1828), an American Revolutionary War veteran and politician who later served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
In the realm of literature, Dodge Dillingham (1872-1949) was an American author and playwright who wrote several successful Broadway plays in the early 20th century. Dodge Connolly (1885-1962), on the other hand, was an American actor and director best known for his work in silent films and early talkies.
In more recent times, Dodge McFall (1920-2007) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1940s and won the Stanley Cup in 1942.
Despite its historical roots and notable bearers, the name Dodge has become relatively uncommon as a given name in modern times, though it still maintains a presence as a surname in various cultures and regions.
People
Dodge + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dodge 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
Dodge: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dodge?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 661 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dodge 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 518,539 US residents.
Is Dodge a common name?
We classify Dodge as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 672 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dodge most popular?
The single biggest year for Dodge was 2010, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dodge is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dodge in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 662 people with the name Dodge, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,878 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 Dodge 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 Dodge?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dodge leans strongly male. 647 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 13 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Dodge?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dodge is White at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Dodge most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dodge in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.1% (557 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 Dodge in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dodge a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dodge 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.
Is Dodge still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dodge 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 Dodge 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 people have the name Dodge?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Dodge, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.