Dominque
Of French origin, meaning "belonging to the Lord" or "of the Lord."
Name Census estimates that about 6,042 living Americans carry the first name Dominque. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Dominque today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dominque births was 1992 (486 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dominque. 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
- • Dominque sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
6.0K
~ 1 in 56,729 Americans
Peak year
1992
486 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,177
Tracked since 1965
Census
Dominque in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,396 people with the first name Dominque, which placed it at #5,146 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
#5,146
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dominque
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dominque is Black at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and White (11.7%). 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 Dominque 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 Dominque at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.4% · 2,221
- Hispanic or Latino15.3% · 519
- White11.7% · 398
- Two or more races5.7% · 192
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 29
Gender
Gender distribution for Dominque
Dominque is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 6,282 total registrations, 2,410 (38.4%) were male and 3,872 (61.6%) were female.
Dominque as a male name
- Ranked #11,177 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1992 (237 births)
Dominque as a female name
- Ranked #13,561 in 2013
- 7 female births in 2013
- Peak: 1985 (314 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dominque on both sides of the split. Of the 3,394 people counted with this name, 1,374 were male (40.5%) and 2,020 were female (59.5%).
Popularity
Dominque: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dominque from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 3,076 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
Dominque 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 Dominque during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dominques live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Dominque, while Washington, Connecticut, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 136 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dominque
The name Dominque has its origins in the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Rome. It is derived from the Latin word "dominus," which means "lord" or "master." The name was initially used as a title or honorific for individuals of high social status or authority.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Dominque gained popularity as a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was often bestowed upon those who devoted their lives to religious service or demonstrated a strong commitment to their faith. The name's association with religious devotion and spiritual leadership became more prevalent during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dominque can be found in the life of Saint Dominic (c. 1170-1221), the founder of the Dominican Order of Preachers. Saint Dominic, a Spanish priest, played a significant role in the Catholic Church's efforts to combat heresy and promote the spread of the faith through preaching and education.
Another notable figure bearing the name Dominque was Dominique de Gourgues (c. 1530-1593), a French explorer and naval officer. He is famous for leading an expedition to Florida in 1568, where he retaliated against the Spanish for their massacre of French Huguenot settlers at Fort Caroline.
In the realm of literature, Dominique Vivant Denon (1747-1825) was a prominent French artist, writer, and archaeologist. He is best known for his detailed illustrations and writings documenting the Egyptian monuments and antiquities during Napoleon's campaign in Egypt.
The name Dominque has also been associated with influential figures in music. Dominique Duval (1949-2016) was a French singer and songwriter who gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s with hits like "Le Freak" and "I'm in Love With a Monster."
Lastly, Dominique Wilkins (born 1960) is a former American professional basketball player who enjoyed a successful career in the NBA. He was a nine-time All-Star and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
People
Dominque + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dominque 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
Dominque: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dominque?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,042 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dominque 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 56,729 US residents.
Is Dominque a common name?
We classify Dominque as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,282 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dominque most popular?
The single biggest year for Dominque was 1992, when 486 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dominque is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dominque in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,396 people with the name Dominque, or 1.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,146 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 Dominque 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 Dominque?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dominque on both sides of the split. Of the 3,394 people counted with this name, 1,374 were male (40.5%) and 2,020 were female (59.5%). 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 Dominque?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dominque is Black at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and White (11.7%). 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 Dominque most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dominque in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.4% (2,221 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 Dominque in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dominque a female name?
Yes, 61.6% of people registered as Dominque 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 Dominque still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dominque 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 Dominque 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 Dominque?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.