Dodger
One who moves quickly and skillfully to avoid something.
Name Census estimates that about 144 living Americans carry the first name Dodger. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dodger today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dodger births was 2014 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dodger. 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
144
~ 1 in 2,380,238 Americans
Peak year
2014
14 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,915
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Dodger: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dodger 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 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dodger remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dodger 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 Dodger during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dodgers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dodger
The given name Dodger is a relatively modern invention, stemming from the late 19th century. Its origins can be traced back to the term "to dodge," meaning to evade or avoid something. This verb itself is derived from the older English word "doger," which referred to a skilled boxer or wrestler who could skillfully evade blows.
In the 1880s, the term "dodger" gained popularity as a nickname for skilled baseball players who could deftly dodge pitches or defensive players on the basepaths. One of the earliest recorded examples of this usage was for the Brooklyn Baseball Club, whose players were dubbed the "Brooklyn Dodgers" by sportswriters of the time. This moniker eventually became the official team name.
While the name Dodger did not gain widespread use as a given name until the 20th century, there are a few notable historical figures who bore this name. One of the earliest was Dodger Pearce (1880-1962), an English cricketer who played for Somerset County Cricket Club in the early 1900s.
Another early bearer of the name was Dodger Rader (1892-1964), an American baseball player who spent several seasons in the minor leagues in the 1910s and 1920s. His nickname was likely inspired by his agility on the basepaths.
In the realm of literature, one of the most famous individuals named Dodger is the character Dodger Bayliss from Charles Dickens' novel "The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit," published in 1844. While not the main protagonist, Dodger was a memorable supporting character, a crafty and streetwise young man.
Moving into the 20th century, one notable individual named Dodger was Dodger Dunlop (1920-1994), a Scottish footballer who played as a striker for several clubs, including Aberdeen and Falkirk, in the 1940s and 1950s.
Finally, one of the more recent historical figures with the name Dodger was Dodger Phillips (1942-2021), an American singer and songwriter who found success in the country music genre in the 1970s and 1980s, with hits such as "Raised on Rock" and "Bayou Drive."
People
Dodger + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dodger 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
Dodger: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dodger?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 144 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dodger 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 2,380,238 US residents.
Is Dodger a common name?
We classify Dodger as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dodger most popular?
The single biggest year for Dodger was 2014, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dodger is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Dodger in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dodger a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dodger 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 Dodger still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dodger 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 Dodger 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Dodger?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Dodger at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.