Dott
A feminine diminutive of Dorothy, meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 1 living Americans carry the first name Dott. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dott today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dott births was 1922 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dott. 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 Dott is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Dotts were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dott. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
1
~ 1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Peak year
1922
8 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1929 SSA rank
#4,203
Tracked since 1896
Popularity
Dott: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dott from the 1890s through to the 1920s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, 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
Dott 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 Dott 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 Dott
The name Dott has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically in Old High German. It is derived from the word "dotta," which means "uncle" or "aunt." The name was first recorded in the 9th century AD, during the Carolingian Renaissance period in Western Europe.
In medieval times, the name Dott was relatively common among the nobility and peasantry alike in German-speaking regions. It appears in several historical records and chronicles from the Holy Roman Empire, including the Annales Fuldenses, which chronicled events in the East Frankish Kingdom during the 9th century.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Dott was Dott the Younger, a Frankish nobleman who lived in the late 9th century. He was a prominent figure in the court of King Arnulf of Carinthia and served as a military commander during the Hungarian invasions of Europe.
Another notable figure with the name Dott was Dott von Nürnberg, a 13th-century German noblewoman and landowner. She was involved in a dispute over the inheritance of her family's estates, which was recorded in the legal archives of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the 15th century, a German soldier named Dott von Erlach gained fame for his bravery during the Swiss-German conflicts. He was praised for his valor in defending the city of Bern against Swiss forces in 1448.
During the Renaissance period, a Dutch artist named Dott Hendriksz (1614-1679) became known for his still-life paintings and portraits. Some of his works can be found in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In more recent history, Dott Ottley (1855-1932) was a British explorer and writer who traveled extensively in Africa and the Middle East. He wrote several books documenting his adventures, including "Modern Egypt" and "The Great Sahara."
While the name Dott has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a unique and historically significant name with roots in the Germanic cultures of medieval Europe.
People
Dott + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dott 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
Dott: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dott?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dott 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 342,754,338 US residents.
Is Dott a common name?
We classify Dott as "Very Rare". It ranks above 3.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 50 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dott most popular?
The single biggest year for Dott was 1922, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dott is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Dott in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dott a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dott 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 Dott still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dott 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 Dott 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Dott?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Dott at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.