Dorena
A female name possibly derived from the Teutonic Drorrens meaning "gift".
Name Census estimates that about 458 living Americans carry the first name Dorena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dorena today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dorena births was 1966 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dorena. 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
458
~ 1 in 748,372 Americans
Peak year
1966
31 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1997 SSA rank
#14,379
Tracked since 1913
Popularity
Dorena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dorena from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 194 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dorena 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 Dorena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dorenas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dorena
The name Dorena has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the Greek word "doron," which means "gift." The name likely emerged during the Classical period of ancient Greece, around the 5th century BC.
Dorena was a fairly uncommon name in ancient times, but it did appear in some Greek texts and records. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Dorena of Corinth, a poet who lived in the 4th century BC. Her work is unfortunately lost to history, but she was mentioned by other ancient writers.
In the Middle Ages, the name Dorena spread to various parts of Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and language. It was sometimes spelled as Doraina or Dorina during this time. One notable bearer was Dorena of Arles, a noblewoman who lived in the 12th century in what is now southern France.
During the Renaissance, the name Dorena experienced a modest revival, likely due to the rediscovery and appreciation of classical Greek literature and culture. Dorena di Cosimo, an Italian artist and painter, was active in the 15th century in Florence. She was known for her religious-themed works.
In the 17th century, Dorena Mulder was a Dutch writer and philosopher who published several treatises on ethics and morality. Her exact birth and death dates are unknown, but she was active in the early to mid-1600s.
Another significant figure was Dorena Isadora Williamson, an American suffragette and women's rights activist born in 1849. She played a crucial role in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Overall, while not an extremely common name throughout history, Dorena has appeared in various contexts and regions, often reflecting its Greek origins and association with the concept of a "gift."
People
Dorena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dorena 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
Dorena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dorena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 458 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dorena 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 748,372 US residents.
Is Dorena a common name?
We classify Dorena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 703 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dorena most popular?
The single biggest year for Dorena was 1966, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dorena is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dorena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dorena 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.
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.