Dorothy Davis
There are approximately 749 people named Dorothy Davis living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 457,616 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Dorothy with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Davis. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
749
1 in 457,616
Named Dorothy
208K
Alive today
Named Davis
1.2M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 208K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1924
Average age: 72
Top Census group: White (74.4%)
Estimated bearers: 1.2M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #9
Per 100K: 359.47
Top ancestry: White (59.6%)
First name trend
Dorothy: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Dorothy. The peak year was 1924 with 40,097 births. The average person named Dorothy today is 72 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dorothy
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Dorothy, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 74.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dorothy described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Dorothy at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White74.4% · 227,011
- Black or African American19.7% · 60,099
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 6,688
- Two or more races1.8% · 5,536
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 3,874
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1,726
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Davis surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Davis, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 59.6%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Davis described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Davis at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White59.6% · 640,545
- Black or African American30.8% · 330,935
- Two or more races4.7% · 50,882
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 36,995
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 8,343
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 6,748
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Dorothy has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0608% of the US population, based on 208,282 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Dorothy right now.
The surname Davis appears at a rate of 359.47 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.3595%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 749 people with the full name Dorothy Davis. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Dorothy
Related
Other people with the surname Davis
FAQ
Dorothy Davis: questions and answers
How many people are named Dorothy Davis?
We estimate approximately 749 people in the United States share the full name Dorothy Davis. That works out to about 1 in 457,616 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0608%) with the surname frequency (359.47 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Dorothy Davis?
We classify Dorothy Davis as "Very Rare". About 1 in 457,616 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Dorothy a male or female name?
Dorothy is predominantly female. Out of 1,115,156 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Dorothy profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How common is the name Dorothy Davis?
You can see how many people are called Dorothy Davis on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.