Dulcey
Sweet and indulgent, a feminine name of French origin.
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Dulcey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dulcey today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dulcey births was 1968 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dulcey. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dulcey. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
1968
57 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1972 SSA rank
#6,102
Tracked since 1967
Popularity
Dulcey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dulcey from the 1960s through to the 1970s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 76 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Dulcey remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dulcey 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 Dulcey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dulceys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dulcey
The name Dulcey is an English variant of the Latin name Dulcia, derived from the word "dulcis," meaning "sweet" or "pleasant." It originated in the late Middle Ages, between the 12th and 15th centuries, when Latin names were commonly used in Western Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dulcey can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, England, where a Dulcey Smythe was listed in 1487. The name gained popularity among English nobility and gentry during the Tudor period, particularly in the 16th century.
Dulcey Stafford (1492-1555) was a notable figure in English history. She was the daughter of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and served as a lady-in-waiting to both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. She was also a close confidante of Henry VIII's sixth wife, Catherine Parr.
In the 17th century, Dulcey Preston (1609-1684) was a renowned Puritan writer and poet from Lancashire, England. Her works often explored themes of religious devotion and the complexities of the human soul.
The name Dulcey also found its way into literature, with one of the earliest examples being Dulcey Everard, a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel "The Fortunes of Nigel," published in 1822. This helped popularize the name further in the 19th century.
Another notable bearer of the name was Dulcey Hollingsworth (1865-1948), an American philanthropist and social reformer from Philadelphia. She was instrumental in establishing several charitable organizations and advocating for women's rights and education.
Dulcey Claiborne (1904-1987) was a celebrated American jazz vocalist and actress from New Orleans. Known for her sultry voice and stage presence, she was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s.
People
Dulcey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dulcey 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
Dulcey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dulcey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dulcey 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 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Dulcey a common name?
We classify Dulcey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 105 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dulcey most popular?
The single biggest year for Dulcey was 1968, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dulcey is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dulcey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dulcey 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.
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.