Names/D

Dawson

boys’ nameAt its peak · modern nameCompare

Dawson is ranked 139th among boys in 2024 (2,576 births). Its best rank was 136th, in 1999.

Rank in 2024
#139up 10 from 2023
Births in 2024
2,5760.15% of boys
Peak year
19992,802 births
Best rank
#136in 1999
Since 1885
51,610people given the name
Babies named Dawson, by year of birthboys
01.3k2.5k3.8k5k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

50,294 boys have been named Dawson in the United States since 1885, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1999, with 2,802 births — 0.15% of all boys recorded that year.

It has never been more used than now: its record year is 1999, within the last few years of data.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2010, and the 2000s alone account for 34%. It has spent 40 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,316 girls have also been given it, 2.5% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadeboys named Dawson
1880s26
1890s19
1900s38
1910s220
1920s304
1930s231
1940s264
1950s233
1960s159
1970s211
1980s355
1990s5,750
2000s16,868
2010s14,799
2020s10,817

In 1999, its biggest year

Dawson was the 136th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1999 were Jacob, Michael, Matthew, Joshua and Nicholas. See all of 1999.

Names that rose and fell with Dawson

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.