Dreux
A French masculine name derived from the place name Dreux, originally meaning "oak tree".
Name Census estimates that about 333 living Americans carry the first name Dreux. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Dreux today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dreux births was 2021 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dreux. 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
333
~ 1 in 1,029,292 Americans
Peak year
2021
50 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,447
Tracked since 1956
Census
Dreux in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Dreux, which placed it at #33,765 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
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dreux
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dreux is White at 45.5%. The next largest groups are Black (40.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Dreux 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 Dreux at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.5% · 111
- Black or African American40.6% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 19
- Two or more races4.9% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Dreux
Dreux leans heavily male at 83.5% of total registrations, but 57 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dreux as a male name
- Ranked #4,447 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (36 births)
Dreux as a female name
- Ranked #8,558 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dreux leans strongly male. 205 people counted with this name were male (81.0%), compared with 48 female bearers (19.0%).
Popularity
Dreux: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dreux from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 174 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
Dreux 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 Dreux during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dreux' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dreux
The name Dreux originates from the French language and has its roots in the town of Dreux, located in the northern region of France. The town's name is believed to be derived from the Gaulish word "Durocasses," meaning "dwellers by the water," referring to the area's location near the Blaise River.
In the Middle Ages, the town of Dreux played a significant role in French history, serving as the seat of the powerful Counts of Dreux, a noble family descended from the Capetian dynasty that ruled over large parts of northern France. The name Dreux gained prominence during this period, particularly among the ruling class and aristocracy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dreux can be found in the life of Robert I, Count of Dreux, who lived from around 1123 to 1188. He was a prominent figure in the Crusades and participated in the Third Crusade alongside King Richard I of England and King Philip II of France.
Another notable figure bearing the name Dreux was Peter of Dreux, who lived from 1190 to 1234. He was a French nobleman and the youngest son of Robert II, Count of Dreux. Peter served as the Duke of Brittany through his marriage to Alix, the hereditary Duchess of Brittany.
In the 14th century, John II, Count of Dreux, lived from around 1305 to 1345. He was a prominent military leader during the Hundred Years' War and fought alongside King Philip VI of France against the English forces.
In the realm of literature, the name Dreux appears in the writings of the renowned French author and poet François Villon, who lived from 1431 to 1463. In his famous work "Le Testament," Villon mentions a character named Dreux Raguier, though little is known about the historical accuracy of this reference.
Another notable figure bearing the name Dreux was Louis de Dreux (1505-1564), a French prelate who served as the Bishop of Évreux and later the Bishop of Maillezais. He played a significant role in the religious struggles and conflicts during the French Wars of Religion in the 16th century.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Dreux, reflecting its deep roots in French history, culture, and nobility. The name's origins can be traced back to the Gaulish language and the town of Dreux, which has played a significant role in the country's past.
People
Dreux + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dreux 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
Dreux: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dreux?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 333 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dreux 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 1,029,292 US residents.
Is Dreux a common name?
We classify Dreux as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 346 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dreux most popular?
The single biggest year for Dreux was 2021, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dreux is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dreux in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Dreux, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 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 Dreux 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 Dreux?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dreux leans strongly male. 205 people counted with this name were male (81.0%), compared with 48 female bearers (19.0%). 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 Dreux?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dreux is White at 45.5%. The next largest groups are Black (40.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Dreux most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dreux in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.5% (111 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 Dreux in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dreux a male name?
Yes, 83.5% of people registered as Dreux 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 Dreux still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dreux 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 Dreux 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 are called Dreux?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.