Dexter
Dexter was given to 393 boys in 2025, #693 among boys’ names; 36,800 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 30,600 Americans named Dexter and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 35 years old and half are between 14 and 56.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Dexter by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Dexter mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Dexter is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
Variant of Dyster. Also partially from Latin dexter (“right (handed)”).
/ˈdɛkstɚ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Dexter?
#693 among boys’ names, 2025
Dexter fell from #413 in 2015 to #693 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.39 to 0.23 per 1,000.
842 babies in 2012, the peak
Dexter peaked in 2012, when 842 boys were given it, #361 among boys’ names. The 393 births of 2025 are 47% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 393 | #693 | 0.23 |
| 2024 | 364 | #724 | 0.21 |
| 2023 | 380 | #700 | 0.22 |
| 2022 | 383 | #692 | 0.22 |
| 2021 | 554 | #531 | 0.32 |
| 2020 | 503 | #558 | 0.29 |
| 2019 | 638 | #466 | 0.36 |
| 2018 | 613 | #475 | 0.34 |
| 2017 | 686 | #447 | 0.37 |
| 2016 | 703 | #439 | 0.37 |
Every recorded year (142)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 755 | #413 | 0.39 |
| 2014 | 788 | #396 | 0.41 |
| 2013 | 784 | #382 | 0.41 |
| 2012 | 842 | #361 | 0.44 |
| 2011 | 753 | #384 | 0.40 |
| 2010 | 593 | #452 | 0.31 |
| 2009 | 486 | #542 | 0.25 |
| 2008 | 329 | #710 | 0.16 |
| 2007 | 257 | #832 | 0.12 |
| 2006 | 209 | #917 | 0.10 |
| 2005 | 211 | #870 | 0.11 |
| 2004 | 226 | #798 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 201 | #856 | 0.10 |
| 2002 | 205 | #821 | 0.11 |
| 2001 | 229 | #752 | 0.12 |
| 2000 | 223 | #754 | 0.11 |
| 1999 | 211 | #756 | 0.11 |
| 1998 | 296 | #618 | 0.15 |
| 1997 | 292 | #607 | 0.15 |
| 1996 | 307 | #586 | 0.16 |
| 1995 | 336 | #554 | 0.18 |
| 1994 | 356 | #546 | 0.18 |
| 1993 | 447 | #470 | 0.23 |
| 1992 | 451 | #476 | 0.23 |
| 1991 | 554 | #411 | 0.27 |
| 1990 | 612 | #378 | 0.30 |
| 1989 | 688 | #336 | 0.34 |
| 1988 | 643 | #334 | 0.34 |
| 1987 | 665 | #317 | 0.36 |
| 1986 | 587 | #334 | 0.32 |
| 1985 | 410 | #424 | 0.22 |
| 1984 | 336 | #459 | 0.19 |
| 1983 | 220 | #569 | 0.12 |
| 1982 | 221 | #577 | 0.12 |
| 1981 | 255 | #527 | 0.14 |
| 1980 | 263 | #530 | 0.15 |
| 1979 | 252 | #534 | 0.15 |
| 1978 | 278 | #486 | 0.17 |
| 1977 | 278 | #488 | 0.17 |
| 1976 | 275 | #477 | 0.18 |
| 1975 | 298 | #466 | 0.19 |
| 1974 | 366 | #408 | 0.23 |
| 1973 | 391 | #391 | 0.25 |
| 1972 | 484 | #353 | 0.30 |
| 1971 | 549 | #333 | 0.31 |
| 1970 | 698 | #295 | 0.38 |
| 1969 | 606 | #309 | 0.34 |
| 1968 | 760 | #262 | 0.44 |
| 1967 | 436 | #361 | 0.25 |
| 1966 | 430 | #362 | 0.24 |
| 1965 | 507 | #336 | 0.27 |
| 1964 | 428 | #384 | 0.21 |
| 1963 | 425 | #385 | 0.21 |
| 1962 | 454 | #378 | 0.22 |
| 1961 | 422 | #388 | 0.20 |
| 1960 | 434 | #379 | 0.20 |
| 1959 | 403 | #396 | 0.19 |
| 1958 | 464 | #355 | 0.22 |
| 1957 | 487 | #342 | 0.23 |
| 1956 | 401 | #369 | 0.19 |
| 1955 | 411 | #355 | 0.20 |
| 1954 | 326 | #396 | 0.16 |
| 1953 | 290 | #413 | 0.15 |
| 1952 | 270 | #421 | 0.14 |
| 1951 | 238 | #438 | 0.13 |
| 1950 | 193 | #480 | 0.11 |
| 1949 | 144 | #562 | 0.08 |
| 1948 | 152 | #537 | 0.09 |
| 1947 | 153 | #543 | 0.08 |
| 1946 | 155 | #517 | 0.10 |
| 1945 | 139 | #507 | 0.10 |
| 1944 | 143 | #508 | 0.10 |
| 1943 | 160 | #487 | 0.11 |
| 1942 | 140 | #519 | 0.10 |
| 1941 | 161 | #467 | 0.13 |
| 1940 | 109 | #568 | 0.09 |
| 1939 | 97 | #582 | 0.09 |
| 1938 | 101 | #583 | 0.09 |
| 1937 | 86 | #633 | 0.08 |
| 1936 | 67 | #737 | 0.06 |
| 1935 | 74 | #704 | 0.07 |
| 1934 | 76 | #698 | 0.07 |
| 1933 | 73 | #706 | 0.07 |
| 1932 | 90 | #627 | 0.09 |
| 1931 | 67 | #762 | 0.06 |
| 1930 | 89 | #656 | 0.08 |
| 1929 | 92 | #639 | 0.09 |
| 1928 | 92 | #653 | 0.08 |
| 1927 | 79 | #736 | 0.07 |
| 1926 | 96 | #643 | 0.09 |
| 1925 | 91 | #669 | 0.08 |
| 1924 | 51 | #984 | 0.05 |
| 1923 | 84 | #707 | 0.08 |
| 1922 | 103 | #638 | 0.09 |
| 1921 | 80 | #739 | 0.07 |
| 1920 | 88 | #680 | 0.08 |
| 1919 | 87 | #664 | 0.09 |
| 1918 | 76 | #738 | 0.07 |
| 1917 | 66 | #776 | 0.07 |
| 1916 | 69 | #726 | 0.08 |
| 1915 | 70 | #700 | 0.08 |
| 1914 | 43 | #803 | 0.07 |
| 1913 | 43 | #699 | 0.08 |
| 1912 | 29 | #817 | 0.07 |
| 1911 | 16 | #834 | 0.07 |
| 1910 | 12 | #943 | 0.06 |
| 1909 | 15 | #727 | 0.09 |
| 1908 | 9 | #964 | 0.06 |
| 1907 | 16 | #640 | 0.11 |
| 1906 | 11 | #768 | 0.08 |
| 1905 | 12 | #711 | 0.09 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,040 | 0.05 |
| 1902 | 9 | #808 | 0.07 |
| 1901 | 9 | #739 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,166 | 0.04 |
| 1897 | 6 | #969 | 0.05 |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,135 | 0.04 |
| 1895 | 8 | #811 | 0.07 |
| 1894 | 8 | #802 | 0.07 |
| 1893 | 12 | #581 | 0.11 |
| 1892 | 6 | #983 | 0.05 |
| 1891 | 8 | #717 | 0.08 |
| 1890 | 7 | #827 | 0.06 |
| 1889 | 7 | #818 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 10 | #663 | 0.08 |
| 1887 | 9 | #644 | 0.09 |
| 1885 | 5 | #973 | 0.05 |
| 1884 | 11 | #581 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 6 | #820 | 0.06 |
| 1882 | 11 | #583 | 0.10 |
| 1881 | 10 | #571 | 0.10 |
| 1880 | 6 | #842 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Dexter a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Dexter has been given almost only to boys: 218 girls in 142 years of records.
Girls and boys named Dexter: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Dexter, and how old are they?
30,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 36,800 Americans ever recorded as Dexter. The median Dexter alive today is 35 years old; half are between 14 and 56.
The 2020 Census counted 26,692 people named Dexter (109 women and girls, 26,583 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 29,338 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 425 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,360 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 6,060 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 6,760 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 5,480 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 7,490 |
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 Dexter born?
The states with the most babies named Dexter are California, Florida and Texas, with 23% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 30 | #813 | 0.6× |
| Florida | 29 | #589 | 1.4× |
| Texas | 20 | #1,107 | 0.7× |
| North Carolina | 17 | #574 | 1.6× |
| New York | 17 | #807 | 0.6× |
| Michigan | 17 | #494 | 0.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 17 | #553 | 0.4× |
| Ohio | 16 | #605 | 0.6× |
| Illinois | 15 | #613 | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 14 | #685 | 2.9× |
Where Dexter is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Dexter is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 3.0 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 Dexter with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Dexter
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 Dexter and names like it
- Compare Dexter and ThorBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sDexter peaked in 2012.
- Georgia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Dexter since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Dexter: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2012The year the most babies were named Dexter.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Dexter alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with DMost given first.