Dorothy

Primarily a girl's name · 100% girls

Meaning

Dorothy is a feminine given name. It is the English vernacular form of the Greek Δωροθέα meaning 'God's gift', from δῶρον 'gift' + θεός 'god'. It has been in use since the 15th century.

From Wikipedia

Dorothy first appears in the data in 1996 and has been recorded in 21 different years as a girl's name. Its single biggest year was 2016 with 181 babies (rank #274 that year). It was not in the 2024 data. The name has been declining over the last five years.

Numerology of Dorothy

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Dorothy yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

6Destiny numberThe carerNurturing, responsible, family at the centre.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
1Soul urgeThe leaderIndependent, pioneering, drawn to going first.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
5PersonalityThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

1,084

Total babies (all years)

Years in the data

181

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Girls

Famous people named Dorothy

Dorothy Hodgkincrystallographer · b. 1910
Dorothy Parkerliterary critic · b. 1893
Dorothy L. SayersFrench–English translator · b. 1893
Dorothy Malonefilm actor · b. 1924
Dorothy Dayfeminist · b. 1897

More popular girls' names

Other girls' names starting with D

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all girls' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1996	18	#1,080
1997	24	#906
1998	25	#876
1999	15	#1,272
2000	21	#1,004
2001	16	#1,256
2002	19	#1,113
2003	16	#1,341
2004	22	#1,077
2005	31	#899
2006	24	#1,124
2007	33	#927
2008	38	#860
2009	52	#704
2010	53	#699
2011	67	#607
2012	58	#711
2013	107	#398
2014	126	#360
2015	138	#343
2016	181	#274