Recorded 1888–2025 · United States
Dawn was most popular in 1970, when 15,724 American babies were given the name — ranking #44 that year. In 2025 it ranked #3,937, with 85 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 290,680 people named Dawn.
Dawn first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1888, which makes it about 137 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 126 of the 138 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 290,680 American births named Dawn between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 258,571 are estimated to be alive today.
85 American babies were named Dawn in 2025, ranking #3,937 that year.
Dawn is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 95 births a year, against 91 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +4% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Dawn is a girl’s name — 99.6% of the 290,680 Americans given it were girls and 0.4% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 99% girls and 1% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 258,571 Americans named Dawn are alive today — 89% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 57 years old, and half are between 52 and 63. That is a narrow band: Dawn arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Old English · daybreak
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Dawn on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org