Dulse
A plant of red algae edible and used as food seasoning.
Name Census estimates that about 247 living Americans carry the first name Dulse. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dulse today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dulse births was 2001 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dulse. 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
247
~ 1 in 1,387,669 Americans
Peak year
2001
17 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2013 SSA rank
#13,567
Tracked since 1985
Census
Dulse in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 186 people with the first name Dulse, which placed it at #40,168 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
#40,168
National first-name rank
People counted
186
186 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dulse
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dulse is Hispanic at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Dulse 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 Dulse at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.8% · 180
- White2.7% · 5
- Two or more races0.5% · 1
Popularity
Dulse: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dulse from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 127 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dulse 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 Dulse during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dulses live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dulse
The given name Dulse is believed to have originated from the Middle English word "dulse," which referred to a type of edible seaweed. This word itself is thought to have derived from the Old Irish word "duilesc," meaning a succulent plant or seaweed.
The name's origins can be traced back to coastal regions of Ireland and Scotland, where dulse seaweed was commonly harvested and consumed. It is possible that the name was initially given to individuals who lived near the sea or were involved in the collection or trade of this seaweed.
There are no known historical references to the name Dulse appearing in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or significant historical records. However, it is likely that the name was in use among coastal communities in the British Isles as early as the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Dulse can be found in the 17th century. Dulse Crockett (1621-1685) was a Scottish sailor and explorer who accompanied Captain James Nares on several voyages to the Arctic regions.
Another notable individual with the name Dulse was Dulse MacFarlane (1754-1831), a Scottish physician and botanist who made significant contributions to the study of seaweeds and marine life.
In the 19th century, Dulse O'Brien (1812-1887) was an Irish poet and playwright known for his works celebrating the beauty of the Irish landscape and coastal regions.
Moving into the 20th century, Dulse Middleton (1908-1993) was a British painter and illustrator whose works often featured scenes of coastal villages and seascapes.
More recently, Dulse Harrington (1948-2019) was an American environmentalist and advocate for sustainable seafood practices, particularly in the harvesting and cultivation of seaweeds.
While not an exhaustive list, these examples illustrate the use of the given name Dulse throughout various time periods and regions, often with connections to coastal communities or maritime pursuits.
People
Dulse + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dulse 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
Dulse: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dulse?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 247 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dulse 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 1,387,669 US residents.
Is Dulse a common name?
We classify Dulse as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dulse most popular?
The single biggest year for Dulse was 2001, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dulse is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dulse in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 186 people with the name Dulse, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,168 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 Dulse 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 Dulse?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dulse leans strongly female. 184 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Dulse?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dulse is Hispanic at 96.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Dulse most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dulse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.8% (180 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 Dulse in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dulse a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dulse 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 Dulse still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dulse 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 Dulse 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 Americans are named Dulse?
See how many people share the name Dulse on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.