Dorothyann
A feminine name of English origin meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 43 living Americans carry the first name Dorothyann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dorothyann today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dorothyann births was 1932 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dorothyann. 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
- • The typical person named Dorothyann is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Dorothyanns were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dorothyann. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
43
~ 1 in 7,971,031 Americans
Peak year
1932
12 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1963 SSA rank
#5,466
Tracked since 1916
Census
Dorothyann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 262 people with the first name Dorothyann, which placed it at #32,242 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
#32,242
National first-name rank
People counted
262
262 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dorothyann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dorothyann is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Dorothyann 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 Dorothyann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.5% · 211
- Black or African American8.4% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 10
- Two or more races2.7% · 7
Popularity
Dorothyann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dorothyann from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dorothyann 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 Dorothyann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dorothyanns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dorothyann
The name Dorothyann is a combination of the names Dorothy and Ann. The name Dorothy has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the words "doron" meaning gift and "theos" meaning God. It was a popular name among Greek Christians and was eventually adopted by other cultures.
Dorothy was a widely used name in medieval Europe, particularly in England and France. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the legend of Saint Dorothy, a virgin martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD in Caesarea, Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey). The legend describes her as a young woman who was persecuted for her Christian faith and eventually executed.
The name Ann, on the other hand, is a Hebrew name derived from the word "Hannah" which means grace or favor. It was a popular name among Jews and early Christians and was later adopted by various cultures around the world.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dorothyann was Dorothyann Plehinger, a German-American artist and sculptor who lived from 1880 to 1968. She was known for her works in ceramics and bronze and exhibited her pieces in various galleries across the United States.
Another notable figure with this name was Dorothyann Petrie, an American author and journalist who lived from 1908 to 1997. She wrote several books on travel and culture, including "The Middle of the Journey" and "The Curve of Time."
In the field of politics, Dorothyann Edelman was an American activist and advocate for children's rights. She was born in 1929 and founded the Children's Defense Fund, a non-profit organization that aimed to improve the lives of children in poverty.
Dorothyann Frautschi was a Swiss-American physicist who lived from 1920 to 2009. She made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics and worked at various prestigious institutions, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Chicago.
Finally, Dorothyann Elwood was an American writer and educator who lived from 1926 to 2006. She was best known for her children's books, including "The Walloping Window-Blind" and "The Winged Watchman," which explored themes of nature and adventure.
People
Dorothyann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dorothyann 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
Dorothyann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dorothyann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 43 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dorothyann 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 7,971,031 US residents.
Is Dorothyann a common name?
We classify Dorothyann as "Very Rare". It ranks above 52.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dorothyann most popular?
The single biggest year for Dorothyann was 1932, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dorothyann is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dorothyann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 262 people with the name Dorothyann, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,242 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 Dorothyann 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 Dorothyann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dorothyann leans strongly female. 258 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Dorothyann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dorothyann is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Dorothyann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dorothyann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (211 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 Dorothyann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dorothyann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dorothyann 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 Dorothyann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dorothyann 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 Dorothyann 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 share the name Dorothyann?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.