Dor
Hebrew name meaning "generation" or "dwelling".
Name Census estimates that about 40 living Americans carry the first name Dor. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Dor today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dor births was 2023 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dor. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dor. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
40
~ 1 in 8,568,858 Americans
Peak year
2023
8 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
1995 SSA rank
#8,087
Tracked since 1988
Census
Dor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 403 people with the first name Dor, which placed it at #24,052 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
#24,052
National first-name rank
People counted
403
403 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dor is White at 63.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.9%). 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 Dor 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 Dor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.3% · 255
- Black or African American17.9% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.9% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 30
- Two or more races1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Dor
Dor is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 41 total registrations, 11 (26.8%) were male and 30 (73.2%) were female.
Dor as a male name
- Ranked #8,087 in 1995
- 6 male births in 1995
- Peak: 1995 (6 births)
Dor as a female name
- Ranked #11,459 in 2023
- 8 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dor on both sides of the split. Of the 401 people counted with this name, 250 were male (62.3%) and 151 were female (37.7%).
Popularity
Dor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dor from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 19 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dor 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 Dor 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 Dor
The name Dor has its origins in Hebrew, originating from the biblical period. It is derived from the Hebrew word "dor," which means "generation" or "dwelling." The name has been in use for centuries, with its earliest recorded examples dating back to ancient times.
In the Old Testament, the name Dor is mentioned as a coastal town in the territory of Manasseh, located in present-day Israel. The town is referenced in several books, including Joshua and 1 Kings. This biblical connection likely contributed to the name's popularity among Hebrew speakers and those of the Jewish faith.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dor was Dor ben Abiner, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 3rd century CE. He is known for his contributions to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism.
In the Middle Ages, the name Dor was associated with several notable figures. Dor Zakai (c. 1300) was a Spanish Jewish philosopher and author who wrote on topics ranging from astronomy to theology. Another notable bearer of the name was Dor ben Levi (c. 1400), a French rabbi and scholar who authored works on Jewish law and ethics.
During the Renaissance period, the name Dor gained popularity among Christian communities as well. Dor Baldi (1495-1566) was an Italian painter and architect who worked in Florence during the High Renaissance. He is best known for his frescoes and architectural designs.
In more recent history, Dor Guez (1928-2018) was an Israeli artist and sculptor known for his large-scale public works. His sculptures can be found in various cities across Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
While the name Dor has its roots in Hebrew and Jewish culture, it has transcended religious and cultural boundaries over time. Its enduring presence throughout history reflects its connection to the concept of generations and dwellings, making it a name with a rich and multifaceted heritage.
People
Dor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dor 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
Dor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 40 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dor 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 8,568,858 US residents.
Is Dor a common name?
We classify Dor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 41 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dor most popular?
The single biggest year for Dor was 2023, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dor is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 403 people with the name Dor, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,052 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 Dor 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 Dor?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dor on both sides of the split. Of the 401 people counted with this name, 250 were male (62.3%) and 151 were female (37.7%). 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 Dor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dor is White at 63.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.9%). 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 Dor most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.3% (255 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 Dor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dor a female name?
Yes, 73.2% of people registered as Dor 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 Dor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dor 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 Dor 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 Dor?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Dor at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.