girls' name ★ peaked 1970

Dawn

Gender Girl Rank 2025 #2,174 Trend → Stable

A female given name from English, sometimes given to a girl born at dawn.

Rank 2025
#2,174
among girls · ↓317 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
85
named Dawn · -25% vs 2024
How common
1 in 18,909
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1970
15,724 babies
All-time total
290,680
#135 all-time among girls
First recorded
1888
in Social Security records

Dawn popularity over time

290,680 babies have been named Dawn since 1888, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
2.557.51018801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 5 – 5 1 – #1,330
1890s 26 – 26 3 +420% #1,120
1900s 30 – 30 3 +15% #1,572
1910s 357 – 357 36 +1090% #856
1920s 1,464 27 1,491 149 +318% #441
1930s 3,732 44 3,776 378 +153% #268
1940s 8,631 38 8,669 867 +130% #208
1950s 38,899 111 39,010 3,901 +350% #54
1960s 114,293 314 114,607 11,461 +194% #21
1970s 92,446 353 92,799 9,280 -19% #14
1980s 22,406 114 22,520 2,252 -76% #67
1990s 4,302 32 4,334 433 -81% #361
2000s 1,577 – 1,577 158 -64% #910
2010s 923 – 923 92 -41% #1,918
2020s (to 2025) 550 6 556 93 0% #1,857

Where Dawn is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 85 0.05 outside top 500
2027 86 0.05 outside top 500
2028 86 0.05 outside top 500
2029 86 0.05 outside top 500
2030 86 0.05 outside top 500

Where Dawn is most popular

Girls named Dawn per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.058 per 1,000. Strongest in Texas, Georgia, and Washington.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Dawn born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Texas 67 0.083 +45%
Georgia 18 0.079 +38%
Washington 10 0.069 +20%
California 47 0.056 ≈ national
Florida 20 0.047 -19%
Ohio 10 0.042 -27%
Illinois 9 0.039 -32%
Tennessee 6 0.038 -34%
Virginia 5 0.029 -49%
Pennsylvania 6 0.025 -56%
New York 7 0.018 -69%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
Arizona – – –
Colorado – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Iowa – – –
Idaho – – –
Indiana – – –
Kansas – – –
Kentucky – – –
Louisiana – – –
Massachusetts – – –
Maryland – – –
Maine – – –
Michigan – – –
Minnesota – – –
Missouri – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Carolina – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Jersey – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Utah – – –
Vermont – – –
Wisconsin – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Dawn

Dawn is rare for girls in the United States, ranked #2,174 in 2025 with 85 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1888, 290,680 American babies have been named Dawn. Its peak came in 1970, when 15,724 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1970s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Dawn stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Dawn?

The median living Dawn is about 57 years old; half are between 51 and 62. An estimated 262 thousand people named Dawn are alive in the United States today.

median 57 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Dawn year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 85 #2,174 – –
2024 108 #1,857 6 #11,251
2023 78 #2,340 – –
2022 100 #1,964 – –
2021 96 #2,011 – –
2020 83 #2,176 – –
2019 86 #2,160 – –
2018 100 #1,969 – –
2017 105 #1,918 – –
2016 85 #2,252 – –
2015 99 #1,999 – –
2014 94 #2,074 – –
2013 78 #2,350 – –
2012 90 #2,118 – –
2011 94 #2,059 – –
2010 92 #2,138 – –
2009 113 #1,868 – –
2008 114 #1,867 – –
2007 122 #1,762 – –
2006 130 #1,630 – –
2005 125 #1,616 – –
2004 157 #1,352 – –
2003 200 #1,101 – –
2002 197 #1,079 – –
2001 179 #1,162 – –
2000 240 #910 – –
1995 319 #668 5 #9,171
1990 740 #361 9 #5,471
1985 1,730 #165 9 #4,406
1980 4,479 #67 17 #2,749
1975 8,744 #23 54 #1,150
1970 15,681 #16 43 #1,266
1965 13,344 #26 31 #1,390
1960 7,813 #57 23 #1,701
1955 4,216 #103 9 #2,812
1950 1,411 #191 – –
1945 745 #246 5 #3,421
1940 427 #303 9 #2,520
1935 398 #311 – –
1930 221 #453 – –
1925 130 #639 5 #4,354
1920 84 #787 – –
1915 58 #856 – –
1910 8 #1,808 – –
1905 5 #2,006 – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 7 #1,120 – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Dawn

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Dawn French Dawn French British actress, comedian and writer (born 1957) Contemporary
  2. 2 Dawn Staley Dawn Staley American basketball player and coach (born 1970) Contemporary
  3. 3 Dawn Wells Dawn Wells American actress (1938–2020) Contemporary
  4. 4 Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser Australian swimmer and politician b. 1937 · Contemporary
  5. 5 Dawn Harper-Nelson Dawn Harper-Nelson American hurdler (born 1984) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Dawn, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Dawn?

The median living Dawn is about 57 years old. Half of all living Dawns are between 51 and 62 years old.

How many people named Dawn are alive today?

An estimated 262 thousand people named Dawn are alive in the United States, based on 290,680 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Dawn mean?

A female given name from English, sometimes given to a girl born at dawn.

How popular is the name Dawn in 2025?

Dawn ranked #2,174 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 85 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Dawn?

290,680 babies have been named Dawn in the United States since 1888, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Dawn most popular?

Dawn peaked in 1970, when 15,724 newborns received the name.

Is Dawn a boy or girl name?

Dawn is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Dawn rising or falling?

Dawn has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Dawn become more popular?

Dawn looks stable. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 86 girls named Dawn in 2030, ranking outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Dawn?

Well-known people named Dawn include Dawn French (actor), Dawn Staley (basketball player), Dawn Wells (actor).

Names like Dawn

Names that sound and feel close to Dawn: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Dawn with similar names → More names starting with D →