Dossie
A feminine diminutive of Dolores meaning "sorrows, pains".
Name Census estimates that about 144 living Americans carry the first name Dossie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 54.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Dossie today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dossie births was 1917 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dossie. 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
- • Dossie was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • Dossie sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • The typical person named Dossie is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Dossies were born before 1954.
People living today
144
~ 1 in 2,380,238 Americans
Peak year
1917
32 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1972 SSA rank
#4,589
Tracked since 1881
Census
Dossie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 277 people with the first name Dossie, which placed it at #31,090 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
#31,090
National first-name rank
People counted
277
277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dossie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dossie is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are White (40.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Dossie 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 Dossie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.6% · 143
- White40.1% · 111
- Two or more races3.6% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Dossie
Dossie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,034 total registrations, 466 (45.1%) were male and 568 (54.9%) were female.
Dossie as a male name
- Ranked #4,589 in 1972
- 6 male births in 1972
- Peak: 1927 (18 births)
Dossie as a female name
- Ranked #6,616 in 1960
- 5 female births in 1960
- Peak: 1915 (21 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dossie on both sides of the split. Of the 271 people counted with this name, 165 were male (60.9%) and 106 were female (39.1%).
Popularity
Dossie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dossie from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 267 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
Dossie 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 Dossie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dossies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Dossie, while Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dossie
The name Dossie has its origins in the English language. It is believed to have emerged as a diminutive or nickname form of the name Dorothy, which itself is derived from the Greek name Dorothea, meaning "gift of God."
The earliest recorded use of the name Dossie dates back to the 16th century in England. It was likely a pet name or informal variation used within families and close circles. The name's popularity remained relatively limited throughout the centuries, making it a somewhat uncommon name choice.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Dossie was Dossie Weston, an English painter and engraver who lived from 1624 to 1688. Her works, primarily depicting floral subjects, were highly regarded during her time.
Another notable bearer of the name was Dossie Saunders, an American folk musician and singer-songwriter born in 1937. She was known for her contributions to the folk revival movement of the 1960s and her collaborations with renowned artists such as Joan Baez.
In the literary world, Dossie Bellfield was a 20th-century American author and journalist known for her critically acclaimed novels and short stories. She explored themes of family dynamics and societal issues in her works, published between the 1940s and 1970s.
Dossie Boughey, born in 1922, was a British botanist and conservationist who dedicated her life to protecting and studying rare plant species. Her research on the flora of the British Isles was widely recognized and contributed significantly to the field of botany.
Additionally, Dossie Briggs, born in 1899, was a pioneering American aviator and one of the first women to obtain a commercial pilot's license. She played a crucial role in promoting women's involvement in aviation during the early 20th century.
While the name Dossie has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, these individuals have left their mark in various fields, showcasing the diversity and accomplishments associated with this unique name.
People
Dossie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dossie 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
Dossie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dossie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 144 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dossie 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 2,380,238 US residents.
Is Dossie a common name?
We classify Dossie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,034 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dossie most popular?
The single biggest year for Dossie was 1917, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dossie is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dossie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 277 people with the name Dossie, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,090 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 Dossie 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 Dossie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dossie on both sides of the split. Of the 271 people counted with this name, 165 were male (60.9%) and 106 were female (39.1%). 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 Dossie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dossie is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are White (40.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Dossie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dossie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.6% (143 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 Dossie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dossie a female name?
Yes, 54.9% of people registered as Dossie 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 Dossie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dossie 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 Dossie 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 Dossie?
Find out how many Americans are named Dossie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.