Dottie
Dottie was given to 158 girls in 2025, #1,385 among girls’ names; 9,998 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 5,800 Americans named Dottie and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (58% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 46 and 78.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Dottie by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Dottie mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Dottie is “a diminutive of the female given name Dorothy, also spelled Dotty, and sometimes also used as a formal given name.”
From Dot + -ie.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Dottie?
#1,385 among girls’ names, 2025
Dottie rose from #3,787 in 2015 to #1,385 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 22.4 to 98.3 per million.
278 babies in 1943, the peak
Dottie peaked in 1943, when 278 girls were given it, #447 among girls’ names. The 158 births of 2025 are 57% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 158 | #1,385 | 0.10 |
| 2024 | 160 | #1,400 | 0.10 |
| 2023 | 147 | #1,483 | 0.09 |
| 2022 | 130 | #1,625 | 0.08 |
| 2021 | 95 | #2,030 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 77 | #2,307 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 65 | #2,658 | 0.04 |
| 2018 | 59 | #2,848 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 40 | #3,792 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 36 | #4,108 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (142)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 40 | #3,787 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 38 | #3,942 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 32 | #4,449 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 20 | #6,406 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 12 | #9,307 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 11 | #9,961 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 17 | #7,436 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 13 | #9,111 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 8 | #13,016 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 8 | #12,724 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 6 | #14,656 | under 0.01 |
| 2003 | 5 | #16,475 | under 0.01 |
| 2001 | 7 | #12,418 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 6 | #13,136 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 5 | #14,821 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 5 | #14,379 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 5 | #14,127 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 10 | #8,261 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 9 | #9,030 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 5 | #14,111 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 8 | #9,723 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 6 | #11,919 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 8 | #9,500 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 9 | #8,225 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 16 | #5,120 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 14 | #5,367 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 16 | #4,784 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 23 | #3,644 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 34 | #2,689 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 24 | #3,358 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 23 | #3,554 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 24 | #3,459 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 45 | #2,224 | 0.03 |
| 1979 | 44 | #2,222 | 0.03 |
| 1978 | 46 | #2,061 | 0.03 |
| 1977 | 43 | #2,170 | 0.03 |
| 1976 | 41 | #2,109 | 0.03 |
| 1975 | 42 | #2,070 | 0.03 |
| 1974 | 42 | #2,004 | 0.03 |
| 1973 | 55 | #1,653 | 0.04 |
| 1972 | 55 | #1,634 | 0.04 |
| 1971 | 55 | #1,668 | 0.03 |
| 1970 | 71 | #1,446 | 0.04 |
| 1969 | 64 | #1,469 | 0.04 |
| 1968 | 64 | #1,408 | 0.04 |
| 1967 | 78 | #1,205 | 0.05 |
| 1966 | 74 | #1,253 | 0.04 |
| 1965 | 82 | #1,189 | 0.05 |
| 1964 | 131 | #913 | 0.07 |
| 1963 | 119 | #975 | 0.06 |
| 1962 | 137 | #902 | 0.07 |
| 1961 | 188 | #758 | 0.09 |
| 1960 | 185 | #751 | 0.09 |
| 1959 | 171 | #781 | 0.08 |
| 1958 | 215 | #675 | 0.11 |
| 1957 | 201 | #701 | 0.10 |
| 1956 | 175 | #730 | 0.09 |
| 1955 | 150 | #786 | 0.08 |
| 1954 | 146 | #774 | 0.08 |
| 1953 | 157 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1952 | 170 | #686 | 0.09 |
| 1951 | 161 | #690 | 0.09 |
| 1950 | 158 | #675 | 0.09 |
| 1949 | 148 | #692 | 0.09 |
| 1948 | 202 | #586 | 0.12 |
| 1947 | 232 | #560 | 0.13 |
| 1946 | 245 | #498 | 0.16 |
| 1945 | 240 | #463 | 0.18 |
| 1944 | 275 | #434 | 0.21 |
| 1943 | 278 | #447 | 0.20 |
| 1942 | 235 | #481 | 0.17 |
| 1941 | 212 | #481 | 0.18 |
| 1940 | 198 | #485 | 0.17 |
| 1939 | 128 | #591 | 0.12 |
| 1938 | 139 | #584 | 0.13 |
| 1937 | 136 | #579 | 0.13 |
| 1936 | 133 | #569 | 0.13 |
| 1935 | 123 | #582 | 0.12 |
| 1934 | 127 | #572 | 0.12 |
| 1933 | 104 | #645 | 0.10 |
| 1932 | 133 | #566 | 0.12 |
| 1931 | 92 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1930 | 95 | #711 | 0.08 |
| 1929 | 109 | #671 | 0.10 |
| 1928 | 102 | #692 | 0.09 |
| 1927 | 121 | #655 | 0.10 |
| 1926 | 81 | #808 | 0.07 |
| 1925 | 65 | #923 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 59 | #994 | 0.05 |
| 1923 | 65 | #908 | 0.05 |
| 1922 | 81 | #809 | 0.07 |
| 1921 | 63 | #937 | 0.05 |
| 1920 | 67 | #887 | 0.06 |
| 1919 | 69 | #836 | 0.06 |
| 1918 | 63 | #903 | 0.05 |
| 1917 | 51 | #981 | 0.05 |
| 1916 | 53 | #943 | 0.05 |
| 1915 | 40 | #1,058 | 0.04 |
| 1914 | 21 | #1,395 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 26 | #1,075 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 31 | #907 | 0.06 |
| 1911 | 30 | #792 | 0.07 |
| 1910 | 16 | #1,129 | 0.04 |
| 1909 | 21 | #894 | 0.06 |
| 1908 | 31 | #701 | 0.09 |
| 1907 | 15 | #998 | 0.05 |
| 1906 | 21 | #802 | 0.07 |
| 1905 | 33 | #609 | 0.11 |
| 1904 | 9 | #1,288 | 0.03 |
| 1903 | 15 | #904 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 27 | #644 | 0.10 |
| 1901 | 19 | #750 | 0.08 |
| 1900 | 22 | #784 | 0.07 |
| 1899 | 25 | #619 | 0.11 |
| 1898 | 24 | #667 | 0.09 |
| 1897 | 23 | #648 | 0.10 |
| 1896 | 20 | #710 | 0.08 |
| 1895 | 29 | #549 | 0.12 |
| 1894 | 12 | #915 | 0.05 |
| 1893 | 17 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1892 | 16 | #737 | 0.08 |
| 1891 | 15 | #701 | 0.08 |
| 1890 | 23 | #551 | 0.12 |
| 1889 | 10 | #854 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 16 | #647 | 0.09 |
| 1887 | 15 | #592 | 0.10 |
| 1886 | 12 | #665 | 0.08 |
| 1885 | 10 | #702 | 0.08 |
| 1884 | 9 | #751 | 0.07 |
| 1883 | 5 | #955 | 0.04 |
| 1882 | 10 | #607 | 0.09 |
| 1881 | 7 | #697 | 0.08 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Dottie a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Dottie has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 142 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Dottie: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Dottie, and how old are they?
5,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 58% of the 9,998 Americans ever recorded as Dottie. The median Dottie alive today is 66 years old; half are between 46 and 78.
The 2020 Census counted 5,675 people named Dottie (5,659 women and girls, 16 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 5,862 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,020 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 2,520 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 831 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 227 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 122 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,070 |
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 Dottie born?
The states with the most babies named Dottie are Texas, West Virginia and Kentucky, with 28% of its births recorded by state since 1910; West Virginia and Kentucky are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 579 | #1,643 | 0.9× |
| West Virginia | 530 | not ranked | 4.0× |
| Kentucky | 491 | not ranked | 2.4× |
| Ohio | 475 | #1,057 | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 413 | #1,317 | 1.3× |
| Tennessee | 374 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| California | 319 | #2,144 | 0.5× |
| Louisiana | 319 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 241 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Missouri | 219 | #754 | 0.9× |
Where Dottie is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Dottie is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 4.0 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 girls’ 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 Dottie 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 11,899 babies since 1880, Dottie is the most given (84% of them). In 2025 it was given to 158 of their 165 babies (96%), 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 Dottie
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Nita | 14,268 |
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 Dottie and names like it
- Compare Dottie and DottyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sDottie peaked in 1943.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Dottie since 1910.
- The top names of 1943The year the most babies were named Dottie.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Dottie alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.