Dean
Dean was given to 2,876 boys in 2025, #125 among boys’ names; 195,844 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 135,000 Americans named Dean and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (69% of everyone recorded); the median is 56 years old and half are between 18 and 66.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Dean by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Dean mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Dean is “a male given name”
Also “a male given name transferred from the surname”
The surname or given name is of multiple origins, depending on context:
As an English surname, from Middle English dene (“valley”).
Also as an English surname, from the noun dean. Cognate to Deacon.
Also as an English surname, from the personal name Deyne, a rhyming form of Reynald.
As an Irish surname, variant of Deane.
As a Scottish surname, from Dean Castle in Kilmarnock, itself from the noun meaning valley.
Old English Dene (“Dane, Norseman”)
Hebrew דין (“law, judgment”) and Arabic دين (“way of life, creed”)
/diːn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Dean?
#125 among boys’ names, 2025
Dean rose from #204 in 2015 to #125 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 1.0 to 1.7 per 1,000.
4,967 babies in 1961, the peak
Dean peaked in 1961, when 4,967 babies were given it (4,933 boys, #84 among boys’ names). The 2,882 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 58% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,876 | #125 | 1.7 |
| 2024 | 2,549 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 2023 | 2,289 | #159 | 1.3 |
| 2022 | 2,265 | #164 | 1.3 |
| 2021 | 2,352 | #166 | 1.3 |
| 2020 | 2,165 | #176 | 1.3 |
| 2019 | 2,220 | #174 | 1.2 |
| 2018 | 2,257 | #172 | 1.2 |
| 2017 | 2,083 | #187 | 1.1 |
| 2016 | 1,966 | #205 | 1.0 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,950 | #204 | 1.0 |
| 2014 | 1,711 | #222 | 0.89 |
| 2013 | 1,512 | #240 | 0.80 |
| 2012 | 1,380 | #260 | 0.73 |
| 2011 | 1,235 | #284 | 0.65 |
| 2010 | 1,183 | #286 | 0.62 |
| 2009 | 1,061 | #304 | 0.53 |
| 2008 | 951 | #344 | 0.47 |
| 2007 | 906 | #351 | 0.44 |
| 2006 | 779 | #384 | 0.38 |
| 2005 | 756 | #383 | 0.38 |
| 2004 | 746 | #372 | 0.38 |
| 2003 | 685 | #383 | 0.35 |
| 2002 | 711 | #371 | 0.37 |
| 2001 | 744 | #356 | 0.38 |
| 2000 | 696 | #376 | 0.35 |
| 1999 | 716 | #365 | 0.37 |
| 1998 | 770 | #346 | 0.40 |
| 1997 | 804 | #325 | 0.43 |
| 1996 | 843 | #312 | 0.45 |
| 1995 | 769 | #333 | 0.40 |
| 1994 | 835 | #312 | 0.43 |
| 1993 | 835 | #317 | 0.43 |
| 1992 | 836 | #315 | 0.42 |
| 1991 | 820 | #315 | 0.41 |
| 1990 | 894 | #286 | 0.44 |
| 1989 | 891 | #278 | 0.45 |
| 1988 | 863 | #271 | 0.45 |
| 1987 | 821 | #266 | 0.44 |
| 1986 | 839 | #263 | 0.46 |
| 1985 | 801 | #267 | 0.43 |
| 1984 | 762 | #275 | 0.42 |
| 1983 | 746 | #277 | 0.42 |
| 1982 | 768 | #272 | 0.42 |
| 1981 | 751 | #276 | 0.42 |
| 1980 | 817 | #267 | 0.46 |
| 1979 | 847 | #250 | 0.49 |
| 1978 | 772 | #263 | 0.47 |
| 1977 | 868 | #239 | 0.53 |
| 1976 | 888 | #229 | 0.57 |
| 1975 | 1,025 | #211 | 0.66 |
| 1974 | 1,220 | #184 | 0.78 |
| 1973 | 1,410 | #168 | 0.90 |
| 1972 | 1,682 | #156 | 1.0 |
| 1971 | 2,245 | #137 | 1.3 |
| 1970 | 2,941 | #112 | 1.6 |
| 1969 | 3,445 | #89 | 1.9 |
| 1968 | 3,799 | #78 | 2.2 |
| 1967 | 3,914 | #78 | 2.2 |
| 1966 | 4,041 | #84 | 2.3 |
| 1965 | 4,096 | #88 | 2.2 |
| 1964 | 4,510 | #85 | 2.3 |
| 1963 | 4,616 | #86 | 2.3 |
| 1962 | 4,655 | #86 | 2.3 |
| 1961 | 4,933 | #84 | 2.3 |
| 1960 | 4,518 | #94 | 2.1 |
| 1959 | 4,425 | #95 | 2.1 |
| 1958 | 4,302 | #97 | 2.0 |
| 1957 | 4,387 | #93 | 2.0 |
| 1956 | 3,712 | #99 | 1.8 |
| 1955 | 3,084 | #111 | 1.5 |
| 1954 | 3,166 | #110 | 1.6 |
| 1953 | 3,124 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 1952 | 3,155 | #103 | 1.6 |
| 1951 | 2,892 | #105 | 1.5 |
| 1950 | 2,337 | #120 | 1.3 |
| 1949 | 2,102 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1948 | 1,909 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1947 | 2,002 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1946 | 1,886 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1945 | 1,585 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1944 | 1,574 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1943 | 1,502 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1942 | 1,285 | #151 | 0.93 |
| 1941 | 1,288 | #143 | 1.0 |
| 1940 | 1,223 | #143 | 1.1 |
| 1939 | 1,296 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1938 | 1,339 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1937 | 1,314 | #127 | 1.2 |
| 1936 | 1,332 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1935 | 1,435 | #120 | 1.4 |
| 1934 | 1,476 | #118 | 1.4 |
| 1933 | 1,310 | #128 | 1.3 |
| 1932 | 1,416 | #123 | 1.4 |
| 1931 | 1,346 | #127 | 1.3 |
| 1930 | 1,365 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1929 | 1,287 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1928 | 1,287 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1927 | 1,332 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1926 | 1,245 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1925 | 1,195 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1924 | 1,151 | #144 | 1.0 |
| 1923 | 1,011 | #153 | 0.92 |
| 1922 | 983 | #158 | 0.90 |
| 1921 | 876 | #168 | 0.80 |
| 1920 | 788 | #180 | 0.74 |
| 1919 | 722 | #181 | 0.74 |
| 1918 | 668 | #189 | 0.66 |
| 1917 | 559 | #203 | 0.60 |
| 1916 | 504 | #215 | 0.57 |
| 1915 | 453 | #225 | 0.53 |
| 1914 | 337 | #231 | 0.51 |
| 1913 | 224 | #253 | 0.44 |
| 1912 | 198 | #252 | 0.46 |
| 1911 | 94 | #268 | 0.42 |
| 1910 | 53 | #347 | 0.27 |
| 1909 | 44 | #355 | 0.27 |
| 1908 | 43 | #346 | 0.28 |
| 1907 | 41 | #333 | 0.28 |
| 1906 | 38 | #335 | 0.29 |
| 1905 | 42 | #311 | 0.32 |
| 1904 | 28 | #391 | 0.22 |
| 1903 | 27 | #371 | 0.23 |
| 1902 | 40 | #302 | 0.33 |
| 1901 | 32 | #314 | 0.30 |
| 1900 | 46 | #308 | 0.31 |
| 1899 | 25 | #365 | 0.24 |
| 1898 | 28 | #365 | 0.23 |
| 1897 | 40 | #285 | 0.35 |
| 1896 | 17 | #507 | 0.14 |
| 1895 | 20 | #441 | 0.17 |
| 1894 | 28 | #340 | 0.24 |
| 1893 | 15 | #482 | 0.13 |
| 1892 | 23 | #396 | 0.19 |
| 1891 | 26 | #334 | 0.26 |
| 1890 | 25 | #352 | 0.23 |
| 1889 | 21 | #390 | 0.19 |
| 1888 | 12 | #584 | 0.10 |
| 1887 | 9 | #643 | 0.09 |
| 1886 | 15 | #478 | 0.14 |
| 1885 | 10 | #614 | 0.09 |
| 1884 | 13 | #529 | 0.11 |
| 1883 | 12 | #535 | 0.11 |
| 1882 | 9 | #663 | 0.08 |
| 1881 | 17 | #420 | 0.17 |
| 1880 | 14 | #488 | 0.13 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Dean a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 195,844 Americans recorded as Dean, 1% are girls and 99% boys. In 2025 it went to 6 girls and 2,876 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Dean: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Dean, and how old are they?
135,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 69% of the 195,844 Americans ever recorded as Dean. The median Dean alive today is 56 years old; half are between 18 and 66.
The 2020 Census counted 132,116 people named Dean (1,490 women and girls, 130,626 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 132,479 born in the U.S. The Census count matches that prediction to within 1%.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 5,140 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 45,700 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 29,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 12,500 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 13,900 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 28,000 |
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 Dean born?
The states with the most babies named Dean are California, New York and Pennsylvania, with 23% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 18,767 | #131 | 1.1× |
| New York | 12,588 | #142 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 11,410 | #141 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 10,747 | #96 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 10,649 | #92 | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 9,675 | #129 | 1.2× |
| Minnesota | 8,850 | #151 | 2.2× |
| Wisconsin | 8,401 | #138 | 1.9× |
| Iowa | 7,385 | #110 | 2.5× |
| Texas | 7,003 | #144 | 0.5× |
Where Dean is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Dean is most over-represented in North Dakota: since 1910 it was given 2.5 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 Dean 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 220,698 babies since 1880, Dean is the most given (89% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,882 of their 3,184 babies (91%), 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 Dean
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Monte | 23,988 |
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 Dean and names like it
- Compare Dean and DeonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sDean peaked in 1961.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Dean since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Dean: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1961The year the most babies were named Dean.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Dean alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.