Meaning not yet researched.
Dorothea: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 113 in 2025. Its best rank was #174 in 1912.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #174 in 1912; #1,782 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Dorothea in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,782 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1912, at #174.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Dorothea: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 113 girls in 2025. Peak: #174 in 1912 · most girls in one year: 1,110 (1920).
In 2025, 113 US girls were named Dorothea, making it the 1,782nd most common girls’ name of the year, up 291 places from #2,073 in 2024. That is 20 more than the 93 girls named Dorothea in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #174, reached in 1912. The most girls given the name in a single year was 1,110, in 1920. For comparison, it was #3,936 in 2015 and #463 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Dorothea in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 16 babies with the name. In all, 34,427 US babies have been given the name, all of them girls. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 8,518 babies named Dorothea.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 661 US girls were named Dorothea; the busiest of those years was 2025, with 113. In 2025 that was about 1 in 14,224 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Dorothea ranked highest in Washington in 2025, at #954 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Dorothy (1,115,908 babies since 1880), Theodora (12,703 babies since 1880) and Dorotha (4,788 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Dorthea, Dorathea and Dorethia are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Doda and Dora.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch, German and Portuguese. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Dorthea (2,437), Dorathea (645), Dorethia (114), Doreathea (21).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
Dorothea is listed as a nickname for Dorinda.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 43 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 6 | #954 | — |
| Pennsylvania | 8 | #1,041 | — |
| Georgia | 8 | #1,107 | — |
| Illinois | 5 | #1,467 | — |
| New York | 6 | #1,886 | #2,043 |
| California | 9 | #2,143 | — |
| Florida | 5 | #2,248 | — |
| Texas | 7 | #2,706 | — |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 113 | #1,782 | — | — |
| 2024 | 93 | #2,073 | — | — |
| 2023 | 62 | #2,764 | — | — |
| 2022 | 63 | #2,729 | — | — |
| 2021 | 74 | #2,424 | — | — |
| 2020 | 59 | #2,790 | — | — |
| 2019 | 48 | #3,293 | — | — |
| 2018 | 60 | #2,819 | — | — |
| 2017 | 45 | #3,449 | — | — |
| 2016 | 44 | #3,539 | — | — |
| 2015 | 38 | #3,936 | — | — |
| 2014 | 28 | #4,931 | — | — |
| 2013 | 26 | #5,182 | — | — |
| 2012 | 19 | #6,676 | — | — |
| 2011 | 16 | #7,526 | — | — |
| 2010 | 21 | #6,243 | — | — |
| 2009 | 21 | #6,380 | — | — |
| 2008 | 23 | #5,999 | — | — |
| 2007 | 15 | #8,213 | — | — |
| 2006 | 20 | #6,432 | — | — |
| 2005 | 14 | #8,021 | — | — |
| 2004 | 22 | #5,623 | — | — |
| 2003 | 26 | #4,847 | — | — |
| 2002 | 33 | #3,911 | — | — |
| 2001 | 18 | #6,145 | — | — |
| 2000 | 18 | #6,016 | — | — |
| 1999 | 28 | #4,119 | — | — |
| 1998 | 24 | #4,530 | — | — |
| 1997 | 27 | #4,037 | — | — |
| 1996 | 21 | #4,777 | — | — |
| 1995 | 22 | #4,565 | — | — |
| 1994 | 31 | #3,555 | — | — |
| 1993 | 32 | #3,444 | — | — |
| 1992 | 33 | #3,352 | — | — |
| 1991 | 38 | #2,999 | — | — |
| 1990 | 43 | #2,707 | — | — |
| 1989 | 51 | #2,309 | — | — |
| 1988 | 51 | #2,223 | — | — |
| 1987 | 44 | #2,367 | — | — |
| 1986 | 45 | #2,273 | — | — |
| 1985 | 43 | #2,324 | — | — |
| 1984 | 41 | #2,349 | — | — |
| 1983 | 52 | #1,970 | — | — |
| 1982 | 48 | #2,125 | — | — |
| 1981 | 54 | #1,965 | — | — |
| 1980 | 49 | #2,107 | — | — |
| 1979 | 59 | #1,818 | — | — |
| 1978 | 59 | #1,754 | — | — |
| 1977 | 61 | #1,703 | — | — |
| 1976 | 56 | #1,719 | — | — |
| 1975 | 64 | #1,566 | — | — |
| 1974 | 71 | #1,431 | — | — |
| 1973 | 66 | #1,454 | — | — |
| 1972 | 102 | #1,103 | — | — |
| 1971 | 101 | #1,151 | — | — |
| 1970 | 129 | #976 | — | — |
| 1969 | 148 | #857 | — | — |
| 1968 | 160 | #791 | — | — |
| 1967 | 184 | #724 | — | — |
| 1966 | 207 | #675 | — | — |
| 1965 | 211 | #678 | — | — |
| 1964 | 256 | #640 | — | — |
| 1963 | 259 | #627 | — | — |
| 1962 | 313 | #554 | — | — |
| 1961 | 308 | #570 | — | — |
| 1960 | 280 | #592 | — | — |
| 1959 | 293 | #575 | — | — |
| 1958 | 298 | #568 | — | — |
| 1957 | 300 | #553 | — | — |
| 1956 | 294 | #546 | 6 | #3,635 |
| 1955 | 312 | #522 | — | — |
| 1954 | 298 | #515 | — | — |
| 1953 | 302 | #500 | — | — |
| 1952 | 320 | #471 | — | — |
| 1951 | 283 | #486 | — | — |
| 1950 | 308 | #463 | — | — |
| 1949 | 343 | #427 | — | — |
| 1948 | 296 | #466 | — | — |
| 1947 | 316 | #463 | — | — |
| 1946 | 287 | #460 | — | — |
| 1945 | 249 | #453 | — | — |
| 1944 | 300 | #418 | — | — |
| 1943 | 335 | #398 | — | — |
| 1942 | 340 | #387 | — | — |
| 1941 | 295 | #401 | — | — |
| 1940 | 350 | #344 | — | — |
| 1939 | 334 | #353 | — | — |
| 1938 | 316 | #366 | — | — |
| 1937 | 309 | #368 | — | — |
| 1936 | 368 | #322 | — | — |
| 1935 | 402 | #307 | — | — |
| 1934 | 441 | #294 | — | — |
| 1933 | 422 | #295 | — | — |
| 1932 | 443 | #300 | — | — |
| 1931 | 505 | #278 | — | — |
| 1930 | 640 | #243 | — | — |
| 1929 | 572 | #268 | — | — |
| 1928 | 630 | #257 | — | — |
| 1927 | 707 | #245 | — | — |
| 1926 | 758 | #233 | — | — |
| 1925 | 891 | #215 | — | — |
| 1924 | 937 | #209 | — | — |
| 1923 | 925 | #210 | — | — |
| 1922 | 931 | #207 | — | — |
| 1921 | 1,057 | #196 | — | — |
| 1920 | 1,110 | #187 | — | — |
| 1919 | 1,001 | #191 | — | — |
| 1918 | 1,065 | #187 | — | — |
| 1917 | 1,076 | #180 | — | — |
| 1916 | 1,036 | #179 | — | — |
| 1915 | 925 | #182 | — | — |
| 1914 | 731 | #182 | — | — |
| 1913 | 658 | #176 | — | — |
| 1912 | 562 | #174 | — | — |
| 1911 | 389 | #182 | — | — |
| 1910 | 307 | #212 | — | — |
| 1909 | 253 | #223 | — | — |
| 1908 | 246 | #217 | — | — |
| 1907 | 239 | #211 | — | — |
| 1906 | 178 | #242 | — | — |
| 1905 | 217 | #207 | — | — |
| 1904 | 168 | #240 | — | — |
| 1903 | 136 | #263 | — | — |
| 1902 | 124 | #280 | — | — |
| 1901 | 109 | #285 | — | — |
| 1900 | 140 | #274 | — | — |
| 1899 | 94 | #305 | — | — |
| 1898 | 114 | #287 | — | — |
| 1897 | 91 | #303 | — | — |
| 1896 | 83 | #320 | — | — |
| 1895 | 76 | #327 | — | — |
| 1894 | 77 | #318 | — | — |
| 1893 | 88 | #287 | — | — |
| 1892 | 65 | #330 | — | — |
| 1891 | 67 | #307 | — | — |
| 1890 | 52 | #355 | — | — |
| 1889 | 56 | #330 | — | — |
| 1888 | 38 | #398 | — | — |
| 1887 | 62 | #268 | — | — |
| 1886 | 35 | #360 | — | — |
| 1885 | 34 | #343 | — | — |
| 1884 | 40 | #305 | — | — |
| 1883 | 30 | #326 | — | — |
| 1882 | 15 | #477 | — | — |
| 1881 | 21 | #362 | — | — |
| 1880 | 16 | #425 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).