Dow
A name of Scottish origin meaning "dark" or "black".
Name Census estimates that about 470 living Americans carry the first name Dow. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dow today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dow births was 1962 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dow. 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
470
~ 1 in 729,265 Americans
Peak year
1962
26 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2015 SSA rank
#12,569
Tracked since 1880
Census
Dow in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 610 people with the first name Dow, which placed it at #17,861 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
#17,861
National first-name rank
People counted
610
610 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dow
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dow is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.7%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Dow 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 Dow at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.2% · 471
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.7% · 65
- Black or African American4.4% · 27
- Two or more races4.4% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Dow: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dow from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 174 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
Dow 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 Dow during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dows live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dow
The given name Dow has its origins in the Middle English era, dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English word "dufe," which translates to "dove" or "pigeon." This connection to the peaceful bird suggests that the name may have been chosen to convey qualities such as gentleness, purity, and grace.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dow can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This historical document lists several individuals with the name, indicating its usage during the Norman period.
In the realm of literature, the name Dow appears in the works of renowned English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived from circa 1340 to 1400. Chaucer's literary masterpiece, "The Canterbury Tales," features a character named Dow, providing a glimpse into the name's prevalence in medieval English society.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the given name Dow. One such person was Dow Jones (1832-1889), an American journalist and entrepreneur who co-founded the prestigious financial news publication that bears his name, The Wall Street Journal, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a widely followed stock market index.
Another prominent figure was Dow Mossman (1785-1833), an American artist and minister known for his religious paintings and etchings. His works, which often depicted biblical scenes, were highly influential in the early 19th century.
In the realm of sports, Dow Finsterwald (1929-2022) was a professional golfer from the United States who won the PGA Championship in 1958 and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1963.
Dow Ber (1773-1843), a Polish-Jewish rabbi and scholar, made significant contributions to the study of the Talmud and Jewish law, earning him a respected place in the annals of Jewish scholarship.
Finally, Dow Redcorn (1928-2003) was a renowned Native American artist and painter from the Osage Nation. His vibrant works, which often portrayed scenes from Native American life and culture, have been exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums across the United States.
People
Dow + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dow 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
Dow: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dow?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 470 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dow 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 729,265 US residents.
Is Dow a common name?
We classify Dow as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,091 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dow most popular?
The single biggest year for Dow was 1962, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dow is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dow in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 610 people with the name Dow, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,861 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 Dow 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 Dow?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dow leans strongly male. 555 people counted with this name were male (91.0%), compared with 55 female bearers (9.0%). 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 Dow?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dow is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.7%) and Black (4.4%). 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 Dow most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dow in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (471 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 Dow in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dow a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dow in the SSA data are male. 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 Dow still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dow 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 Dow 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 have the name Dow?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.