Dewey
Dewey was given to 28 boys in 2025, #3,869 among boys’ names; 34,920 Americans have been recorded with it since 1887 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 11,200 Americans named Dewey and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (32% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 52 and 77.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Dewey by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Dewey mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Dewey is “a male given name transferred from the surname, of 1890s American usage.”
Possibly from a place name in Northern France, Douai. Welsh origin from Dewi (David) has also been suggested.
/ˈduːi/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Dewey?
#3,869 among boys’ names, 2025
Dewey rose from #5,348 in 2015 to #3,869 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 8.9 to 16.4 per million.
1,219 babies in 1898, the peak
Dewey peaked in 1898, when 1,219 babies were given it (1,115 boys, #19 among boys’ names). The 28 births of 2025 are 2% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 28 | #3,869 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 31 | #3,626 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 23 | #4,488 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 19 | #5,069 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 35 | #3,313 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 30 | #3,591 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 28 | #3,821 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 26 | #4,016 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 28 | #3,796 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 16 | #5,610 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (139)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 17 | #5,348 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 17 | #5,301 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 28 | #3,682 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 33 | #3,315 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 21 | #4,538 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 20 | #4,717 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 25 | #4,063 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 36 | #3,174 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 42 | #2,829 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 27 | #3,704 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 30 | #3,332 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 38 | #2,751 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 30 | #3,132 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 33 | #2,830 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 24 | #3,528 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 32 | #2,815 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 29 | #2,882 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 50 | #1,936 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 37 | #2,269 | 0.02 |
| 1996 | 50 | #1,821 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 36 | #2,216 | 0.02 |
| 1994 | 44 | #1,895 | 0.02 |
| 1993 | 51 | #1,699 | 0.03 |
| 1992 | 68 | #1,369 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 62 | #1,441 | 0.03 |
| 1990 | 65 | #1,381 | 0.03 |
| 1989 | 77 | #1,216 | 0.04 |
| 1988 | 76 | #1,154 | 0.04 |
| 1987 | 74 | #1,115 | 0.04 |
| 1986 | 88 | #982 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 67 | #1,137 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 93 | #914 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 99 | #886 | 0.06 |
| 1982 | 108 | #856 | 0.06 |
| 1981 | 105 | #866 | 0.06 |
| 1980 | 134 | #758 | 0.08 |
| 1979 | 142 | #727 | 0.08 |
| 1978 | 118 | #774 | 0.07 |
| 1977 | 139 | #723 | 0.08 |
| 1976 | 134 | #724 | 0.09 |
| 1975 | 164 | #630 | 0.11 |
| 1974 | 159 | #639 | 0.10 |
| 1973 | 149 | #653 | 0.10 |
| 1972 | 182 | #591 | 0.11 |
| 1971 | 220 | #541 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 228 | #535 | 0.12 |
| 1969 | 216 | #534 | 0.12 |
| 1968 | 225 | #503 | 0.13 |
| 1967 | 208 | #518 | 0.12 |
| 1966 | 235 | #495 | 0.13 |
| 1965 | 271 | #473 | 0.15 |
| 1964 | 281 | #472 | 0.14 |
| 1963 | 291 | #460 | 0.14 |
| 1962 | 279 | #476 | 0.13 |
| 1961 | 303 | #465 | 0.14 |
| 1960 | 318 | #452 | 0.15 |
| 1959 | 328 | #440 | 0.15 |
| 1958 | 331 | #432 | 0.16 |
| 1957 | 367 | #407 | 0.17 |
| 1956 | 389 | #382 | 0.18 |
| 1955 | 403 | #361 | 0.20 |
| 1954 | 392 | #363 | 0.19 |
| 1953 | 390 | #350 | 0.20 |
| 1952 | 420 | #338 | 0.22 |
| 1951 | 418 | #332 | 0.22 |
| 1950 | 393 | #339 | 0.22 |
| 1949 | 461 | #316 | 0.26 |
| 1948 | 615 | #266 | 0.35 |
| 1947 | 553 | #293 | 0.30 |
| 1946 | 522 | #282 | 0.32 |
| 1945 | 478 | #273 | 0.36 |
| 1944 | 653 | #213 | 0.48 |
| 1943 | 566 | #248 | 0.40 |
| 1942 | 506 | #265 | 0.37 |
| 1941 | 476 | #256 | 0.39 |
| 1940 | 542 | #229 | 0.47 |
| 1939 | 478 | #241 | 0.43 |
| 1938 | 501 | #238 | 0.45 |
| 1937 | 479 | #241 | 0.45 |
| 1936 | 500 | #229 | 0.48 |
| 1935 | 503 | #231 | 0.48 |
| 1934 | 514 | #228 | 0.50 |
| 1933 | 520 | #221 | 0.52 |
| 1932 | 583 | #212 | 0.56 |
| 1931 | 597 | #211 | 0.57 |
| 1930 | 653 | #205 | 0.60 |
| 1929 | 634 | #208 | 0.59 |
| 1928 | 675 | #202 | 0.61 |
| 1927 | 720 | #197 | 0.64 |
| 1926 | 767 | #188 | 0.69 |
| 1925 | 798 | #181 | 0.72 |
| 1924 | 773 | #186 | 0.68 |
| 1923 | 762 | #185 | 0.70 |
| 1922 | 714 | #193 | 0.66 |
| 1921 | 762 | #184 | 0.69 |
| 1920 | 619 | #208 | 0.58 |
| 1919 | 607 | #205 | 0.62 |
| 1918 | 556 | #223 | 0.55 |
| 1917 | 417 | #247 | 0.45 |
| 1916 | 357 | #268 | 0.40 |
| 1915 | 286 | #301 | 0.34 |
| 1914 | 205 | #317 | 0.31 |
| 1913 | 172 | #303 | 0.34 |
| 1912 | 166 | #276 | 0.39 |
| 1911 | 107 | #249 | 0.47 |
| 1910 | 87 | #261 | 0.45 |
| 1909 | 91 | #227 | 0.55 |
| 1908 | 99 | #206 | 0.64 |
| 1907 | 93 | #207 | 0.63 |
| 1906 | 83 | #214 | 0.62 |
| 1905 | 99 | #184 | 0.75 |
| 1904 | 97 | #185 | 0.76 |
| 1903 | 140 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1902 | 136 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1901 | 137 | #121 | 1.3 |
| 1900 | 345 | #75 | 2.3 |
| 1899 | 499 | #39 | 4.7 |
| 1898 | 1,115 | #19 | 9.1 |
| 1897 | 158 | #111 | 1.4 |
| 1896 | 63 | #224 | 0.53 |
| 1895 | 28 | #349 | 0.24 |
| 1894 | 17 | #486 | 0.15 |
| 1893 | 8 | #786 | 0.07 |
| 1892 | 8 | #813 | 0.07 |
| 1891 | 9 | #656 | 0.09 |
| 1890 | 16 | #464 | 0.14 |
| 1889 | 13 | #532 | 0.12 |
| 1888 | 7 | #838 | 0.06 |
| 1887 | 5 | #964 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Dewey a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 34,920 Americans recorded as Dewey, 2% are girls and 98% boys. In 2025 it went to 28 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Dewey: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Dewey, and how old are they?
11,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 32% of the 34,920 Americans ever recorded as Dewey. The median Dewey alive today is 66 years old; half are between 52 and 77.
The 2020 Census counted 11,845 people named Dewey (110 women and girls, 11,735 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 13,527 born in the U.S. The Census count is 12% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,870 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,780 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,560 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,100 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 498 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 324 |
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 Dewey born?
The states with the most babies named Dewey are North Carolina, Kentucky and Alabama, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Kentucky and Alabama are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 2,819 | not ranked | 2.8× |
| Kentucky | 2,068 | not ranked | 2.8× |
| Alabama | 1,939 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Texas | 1,938 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Tennessee | 1,934 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Georgia | 1,857 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Virginia | 1,569 | not ranked | 2.1× |
| West Virginia | 1,161 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Oklahoma | 1,017 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| South Carolina | 983 | not ranked | 1.7× |
Where Dewey is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Dewey is most over-represented in Kentucky: since 1910 it was given 2.8 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 Dewey 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 3 names spelled alike, given to 35,250 babies since 1880, Dewey is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 28 of their 28 babies (100%), 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 Dewey
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 Dewey and names like it
- Compare Dewey and DewieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1890sDewey peaked in 1898.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Dewey since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Dewey: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1898The year the most babies were named Dewey.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Dewey alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.