Dunstan
A masculine name of Old English origin meaning "dun hill valley".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Dunstan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dunstan today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dunstan births was 1976 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dunstan. 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 Dunstan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1976
5 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1976 SSA rank
#5,849
Tracked since 1976
Census
Dunstan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 190 people with the first name Dunstan, which placed it at #39,614 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
#39,614
National first-name rank
People counted
190
190 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dunstan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dunstan is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (19.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%). 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 Dunstan 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 Dunstan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.5% · 115
- White19.5% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.3% · 29
- Two or more races4.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Dunstan: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Dunstan 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 Dunstan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Dunstan
The given name Dunstan originates from Old English, with roots dating back to the early medieval period in Britain. It is derived from the elements "dun," meaning "hill" or "ridge," and "stan," meaning "stone" or "rock." Thus, the name Dunstan can be interpreted as "stone hill" or "hill of stone."
The earliest recorded use of the name Dunstan can be traced back to the 10th century, when it gained prominence due to St. Dunstan, the influential Benedictine abbot and later Archbishop of Canterbury. Born in the year 909, St. Dunstan played a significant role in the monastic revival in England and is remembered for his contributions to church reforms and his skills as a skilled craftsman and artist.
Another notable figure bearing the name Dunstan was Dunstan Gale, an English author and clergyman who lived in the 16th century. He is known for his work "Pyroboly," published in 1590, which explored the use of gunpowder for various purposes, including warfare and fireworks.
In the 17th century, Dunstan Croft was a prominent English Puritan minister and author. Born in 1619, he wrote several religious works, including "The Naked Truth" and "The Patriarchal Sabbath," which addressed theological and moral issues of his time.
Moving to the 18th century, Dunstan St. Clair was a British naval officer who distinguished himself during the American Revolutionary War. Born in 1738, he served in several notable battles against the French and American forces, earning recognition for his bravery and leadership.
In more recent times, Dunstan Graham, an English actor and writer, made his mark in the entertainment industry. Born in 1936, he appeared in numerous television shows and films, including "Doctor Who" and "The Avengers," and also wrote several novels and plays.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the given name Dunstan, a name with deep roots in Old English and a rich cultural heritage.
People
Dunstan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dunstan 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
Dunstan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dunstan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dunstan 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Dunstan a common name?
We classify Dunstan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dunstan most popular?
The single biggest year for Dunstan was 1976, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dunstan is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dunstan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 190 people with the name Dunstan, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,614 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 Dunstan 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 Dunstan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dunstan appears almost entirely male. Of the 192 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Dunstan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dunstan is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (19.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%). 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 Dunstan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dunstan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.5% (115 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 Dunstan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dunstan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dunstan 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 Dunstan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dunstan 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 Dunstan 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 common is the name Dunstan?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Dunstan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.