Dora
Greek origin meaning "gift" or "wealthy one".
Name Census estimates that about 29,748 living Americans carry the first name Dora. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Dora today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dora births was 1921 (2,031 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dora. 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 Dora with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Dora is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 550 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Dora have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
30K
~ 1 in 11,522 Americans
Peak year
1921
2,031 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1984 SSA rank
#2,602
Tracked since 1880
Census
Dora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 61,603 people with the first name Dora, which placed it at #796 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
#796
National first-name rank
People counted
62K
61,603 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
20.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
60.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dora is Hispanic at 60.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Black (9.1%). 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 Dora 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 Dora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino60.8% · 37,455
- White26.4% · 16,249
- Black or African American9.1% · 5,598
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 1,201
- Two or more races1.1% · 676
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 424
Gender
Gender distribution for Dora
Out of the 106,399 babies given the name Dora since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Dora as a male name
- Ranked #6,591 in 1984
- 5 male births in 1984
- Peak: 1926 (17 births)
Dora as a female name
- Ranked #2,602 in 2024
- 67 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (2,026 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dora appears almost entirely female. Of the 61,606 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Dora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dora from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 18,440 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dora 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 Dora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Doras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Dora, while Delaware, Wyoming, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,548 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dora
The name Dora is derived from the Ancient Greek word "δωρον" (doron), meaning "gift". It is a feminine form of the masculine name Doron, which was commonly used in ancient Greece. The name's earliest recorded use dates back to the 5th century BC, when it appeared in various Ancient Greek texts and inscriptions.
One of the most famous historical figures named Dora was Dora of Pamphylia, a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. She was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Her story is recounted in the Orthodox Church's liturgical texts, where she is revered as a saint.
In the Middle Ages, the name Dora gained popularity in various European regions, particularly in Italy and Spain. One notable bearer of the name was Dora d'Istria (1828-1888), an Italian-Albanian author, patriot, and one of the first female ethnographers. She wrote extensively on the history, culture, and folklore of the Balkan region.
During the Renaissance period, the name Dora was associated with the concept of a "gift from God". This connection likely contributed to its continued use, particularly in Catholic communities. One famous example is Dora Baltea (1573-1643), an Italian mystic and founder of the Order of the Daughters of the Blessed Virgin.
In the 19th century, the name Dora gained prominence in English-speaking countries, thanks in part to the popularity of the children's novel "The Fairchild Family" by Mary Martha Sherwood, which featured a character named Dora. Another notable bearer of the name was Dora Marsden (1882-1960), a British feminist and philosopher who founded the influential literary magazine "The Freewoman".
Throughout history, several other notable figures have borne the name Dora, including Dora Maar (1907-1997), a French photographer and painter who was a muse and lover of Pablo Picasso, and Dora Gerson (1899-1943), a German-Jewish actress and singer who was a victim of the Holocaust.
People
Dora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dora 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
Dora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29,748 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dora 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 11,522 US residents.
Is Dora a common name?
We classify Dora as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106,399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dora most popular?
The single biggest year for Dora was 1921, when 2,031 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dora is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 61,603 people with the name Dora, or 20.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #796 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 Dora 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 Dora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dora appears almost entirely female. Of the 61,606 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Dora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dora is Hispanic at 60.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Black (9.1%). 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 Dora most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.8% (37,455 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 Dora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dora a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Dora 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 Dora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dora 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 Dora 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 Dora?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.