Dusti
An English feminine name derived from the word "dust".
Name Census estimates that about 1,704 living Americans carry the first name Dusti. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Dusti today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dusti births was 1980 (94 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dusti. 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
1.7K
~ 1 in 201,147 Americans
Peak year
1980
94 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1982 SSA rank
#4,330
Tracked since 1963
Gender
Gender distribution for Dusti
Out of the 1,815 babies given the name Dusti since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Dusti as a male name
- Ranked #4,330 in 1982
- 9 male births in 1982
- Peak: 1982 (9 births)
Dusti as a female name
- Ranked #9,787 in 2023
- 10 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1980 (94 births)
Popularity
Dusti: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dusti from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 604 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dusti 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 Dusti during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dustis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, California, Indiana recorded the most babies named Dusti, while Utah, Louisiana, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dusti
The name Dusti is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "Dustha," which means "strong" or "powerful." It was a common name given to male children in ancient India, reflecting the desire for the child to grow up to be strong and courageous.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dusti can be found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In this epic, Dusti was the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava princes during the great war of Kurukshetra.
In the 5th century CE, there was a renowned Buddhist scholar and traveler named Dusti who hailed from the kingdom of Gandhara, located in present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is known for his extensive travels across Asia, during which he documented the cultural and religious practices of the regions he visited.
During the medieval period, the name Dusti gained popularity among the ruling classes of various Indian kingdoms. One notable figure was Dusti Vikramaditya, a powerful king who ruled over the Chalukya dynasty in the 7th century CE. He was known for his military conquests and for patronizing the arts and literature.
In the 14th century, there was a famous Sufi saint and mystic named Dusti Banda Nawaz, who lived in the region of present-day Pakistan. He is revered for his teachings on spirituality and for his contributions to the spread of Islam in the region.
Another prominent figure with the name Dusti was Dusti Khan, a military commander who served under the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. He was known for his bravery and strategic skills on the battlefield, and played a crucial role in several military campaigns during Akbar's reign.
While the name Dusti has its roots in ancient India, its popularity has transcended cultural and geographical boundaries over the centuries, making it a name with a rich and diverse history.
People
Dusti + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dusti 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
Dusti: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dusti?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,704 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dusti 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 201,147 US residents.
Is Dusti a common name?
We classify Dusti as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,815 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dusti most popular?
The single biggest year for Dusti was 1980, when 94 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dusti is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dusti a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Dusti 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.