Dan
Dan is given to both girls and boys: 10 girls and 78 boys were given it in 2025 (#9,600 among girls’ names and #1,962 among boys’, #3,872 among all names counting both); 107,130 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 57,500 Americans named Dan and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (54% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 58 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Dan by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Dan mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Dan is “a male given name from Hebrew.”
Also “a diminutive of the male given name Daniel.”
From Hebrew דָּן (Dan).
/dæn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Dan?
#1,962 among boys’ names, 2025
Dan fell from #1,706 in 2015 to #1,962 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 47.5 to 45.7 per million.
3,702 babies in 1958, the peak
Dan peaked in 1958, when 3,702 babies were given it (3,692 boys, #109 among boys’ names). The 88 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 2% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 78 | #1,962 | 0.05 |
| 2024 | 82 | #1,925 | 0.05 |
| 2023 | 100 | #1,698 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 88 | #1,830 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 78 | #1,933 | 0.04 |
| 2020 | 86 | #1,769 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 103 | #1,608 | 0.06 |
| 2018 | 97 | #1,659 | 0.05 |
| 2017 | 96 | #1,650 | 0.05 |
| 2016 | 100 | #1,610 | 0.05 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 91 | #1,706 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 102 | #1,559 | 0.05 |
| 2013 | 88 | #1,686 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 107 | #1,501 | 0.06 |
| 2011 | 108 | #1,498 | 0.06 |
| 2010 | 116 | #1,428 | 0.06 |
| 2009 | 117 | #1,434 | 0.06 |
| 2008 | 136 | #1,276 | 0.07 |
| 2007 | 150 | #1,179 | 0.07 |
| 2006 | 136 | #1,230 | 0.07 |
| 2005 | 157 | #1,054 | 0.08 |
| 2004 | 139 | #1,133 | 0.07 |
| 2003 | 146 | #1,060 | 0.07 |
| 2002 | 153 | #1,011 | 0.08 |
| 2001 | 143 | #1,029 | 0.07 |
| 2000 | 163 | #931 | 0.08 |
| 1999 | 139 | #1,007 | 0.07 |
| 1998 | 150 | #938 | 0.08 |
| 1997 | 165 | #855 | 0.09 |
| 1996 | 176 | #815 | 0.09 |
| 1995 | 171 | #817 | 0.09 |
| 1994 | 178 | #791 | 0.09 |
| 1993 | 208 | #715 | 0.11 |
| 1992 | 209 | #709 | 0.10 |
| 1991 | 230 | #667 | 0.11 |
| 1990 | 234 | #656 | 0.11 |
| 1989 | 240 | #643 | 0.12 |
| 1988 | 250 | #586 | 0.13 |
| 1987 | 231 | #599 | 0.12 |
| 1986 | 268 | #545 | 0.15 |
| 1985 | 264 | #537 | 0.14 |
| 1984 | 265 | #525 | 0.15 |
| 1983 | 280 | #500 | 0.16 |
| 1982 | 313 | #482 | 0.17 |
| 1981 | 362 | #435 | 0.20 |
| 1980 | 335 | #461 | 0.19 |
| 1979 | 329 | #447 | 0.19 |
| 1978 | 343 | #429 | 0.21 |
| 1977 | 378 | #402 | 0.23 |
| 1976 | 400 | #384 | 0.25 |
| 1975 | 448 | #369 | 0.29 |
| 1974 | 479 | #351 | 0.30 |
| 1973 | 573 | #305 | 0.37 |
| 1972 | 677 | #281 | 0.42 |
| 1971 | 902 | #250 | 0.51 |
| 1970 | 1,021 | #232 | 0.55 |
| 1969 | 1,159 | #212 | 0.65 |
| 1968 | 1,271 | #191 | 0.73 |
| 1967 | 1,329 | #184 | 0.76 |
| 1966 | 1,538 | #174 | 0.86 |
| 1965 | 1,992 | #155 | 1.1 |
| 1964 | 2,370 | #139 | 1.2 |
| 1963 | 2,823 | #124 | 1.4 |
| 1962 | 3,117 | #120 | 1.5 |
| 1961 | 3,414 | #115 | 1.6 |
| 1960 | 3,696 | #111 | 1.7 |
| 1959 | 3,675 | #110 | 1.7 |
| 1958 | 3,692 | #109 | 1.7 |
| 1957 | 3,194 | #121 | 1.5 |
| 1956 | 2,437 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1955 | 2,304 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1954 | 2,154 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1953 | 2,165 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1952 | 2,311 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1951 | 1,992 | #136 | 1.1 |
| 1950 | 2,085 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1949 | 2,279 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1948 | 2,495 | #113 | 1.4 |
| 1947 | 2,702 | #109 | 1.5 |
| 1946 | 2,194 | #116 | 1.4 |
| 1945 | 1,726 | #127 | 1.3 |
| 1944 | 1,488 | #144 | 1.1 |
| 1943 | 1,538 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1942 | 1,344 | #147 | 1.0 |
| 1941 | 1,154 | #152 | 0.94 |
| 1940 | 1,097 | #155 | 0.95 |
| 1939 | 996 | #161 | 0.90 |
| 1938 | 1,040 | #156 | 0.94 |
| 1937 | 1,033 | #149 | 1.0 |
| 1936 | 965 | #155 | 0.93 |
| 1935 | 1,015 | #151 | 1.0 |
| 1934 | 939 | #154 | 0.91 |
| 1933 | 938 | #153 | 0.95 |
| 1932 | 922 | #164 | 0.88 |
| 1931 | 882 | #164 | 0.85 |
| 1930 | 899 | #165 | 0.82 |
| 1929 | 800 | #175 | 0.74 |
| 1928 | 908 | #164 | 0.82 |
| 1927 | 923 | #161 | 0.82 |
| 1926 | 880 | #167 | 0.79 |
| 1925 | 772 | #184 | 0.69 |
| 1924 | 800 | #179 | 0.71 |
| 1923 | 730 | #188 | 0.67 |
| 1922 | 806 | #174 | 0.74 |
| 1921 | 717 | #192 | 0.65 |
| 1920 | 764 | #185 | 0.72 |
| 1919 | 748 | #174 | 0.76 |
| 1918 | 710 | #184 | 0.70 |
| 1917 | 595 | #198 | 0.64 |
| 1916 | 594 | #192 | 0.67 |
| 1915 | 578 | #192 | 0.68 |
| 1914 | 447 | #192 | 0.68 |
| 1913 | 374 | #182 | 0.73 |
| 1912 | 298 | #194 | 0.69 |
| 1911 | 205 | #164 | 0.91 |
| 1910 | 188 | #164 | 1.0 |
| 1909 | 163 | #154 | 1.0 |
| 1908 | 152 | #155 | 1.0 |
| 1907 | 160 | #144 | 1.1 |
| 1906 | 128 | #155 | 1.0 |
| 1905 | 152 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1904 | 156 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1903 | 155 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1902 | 124 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1901 | 117 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1900 | 192 | #121 | 1.3 |
| 1899 | 119 | #134 | 1.1 |
| 1898 | 125 | #142 | 1.0 |
| 1897 | 115 | #140 | 1.0 |
| 1896 | 133 | #129 | 1.1 |
| 1895 | 96 | #164 | 0.82 |
| 1894 | 114 | #138 | 1.0 |
| 1893 | 143 | #115 | 1.3 |
| 1892 | 156 | #114 | 1.3 |
| 1891 | 113 | #122 | 1.1 |
| 1890 | 160 | #104 | 1.4 |
| 1889 | 116 | #119 | 1.0 |
| 1888 | 154 | #109 | 1.3 |
| 1887 | 140 | #102 | 1.4 |
| 1886 | 154 | #102 | 1.4 |
| 1885 | 129 | #108 | 1.2 |
| 1884 | 151 | #100 | 1.3 |
| 1883 | 120 | #109 | 1.1 |
| 1882 | 150 | #97 | 1.3 |
| 1881 | 148 | #86 | 1.5 |
| 1880 | 140 | #98 | 1.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Dan a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Dan has been given almost only to boys: 576 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Dan: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Dan, and how old are they?
57,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 54% of the 107,130 Americans ever recorded as Dan. The median Dan alive today is 66 years old; half are between 58 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 127,523 people named Dan (3,660 women and girls, 123,863 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 65,325 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.0 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Dan rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 4,400 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 34,400 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 11,500 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,740 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,210 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,210 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Dan born?
The states with the most babies named Dan are California, Texas and Ohio, with 26% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 11,583 | #1,615 | 1.5× |
| Texas | 7,212 | #2,338 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 6,608 | #1,313 | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 5,785 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 5,704 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Washington | 3,576 | not ranked | 2.3× |
| New York | 3,191 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Indiana | 3,116 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Wisconsin | 2,837 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 2,788 | not ranked | 0.4× |
Where Dan is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Dan is most over-represented in Washington: since 1910 it was given 2.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Dan with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 111,491 babies since 1880, Dan is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 88 of their 144 babies (61%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Dan
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Dan and names like it
- Compare Dan and DainBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sDan peaked in 1958.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Dan since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Dan: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1958The year the most babies were named Dan.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Dan alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.