Dow
Dow was last recorded in 2015, when 5 babies were given it; 1,091 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2015 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Dow by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Dow mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Dow is “a male given name.”
Variant of Daw from David or daw, and of Duff from Scottish Gaelic.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Dow?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #12,565, in 2015; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
26 babies in 1962, the peak
Dow peaked in 1962, when 26 boys were given it, #1,555 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5 | #12,565 | 2.6 |
| 2005 | 5 | #11,929 | 2.5 |
| 2003 | 5 | #11,357 | 2.5 |
| 2000 | 8 | #7,631 | 4.1 |
| 1995 | 5 | #9,236 | 2.6 |
| 1993 | 7 | #7,025 | 3.6 |
| 1992 | 6 | #7,715 | 3.0 |
| 1989 | 6 | #7,234 | 3.0 |
| 1987 | 5 | #7,259 | 2.7 |
| 1984 | 5 | #6,591 | 2.8 |
Every recorded year (91)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 8 | #4,619 | 4.5 |
| 1981 | 5 | #6,545 | 2.8 |
| 1979 | 9 | #4,166 | 5.2 |
| 1978 | 8 | #4,259 | 4.9 |
| 1977 | 6 | #5,327 | 3.7 |
| 1976 | 6 | #5,109 | 3.8 |
| 1973 | 7 | #4,196 | 4.5 |
| 1972 | 7 | #4,104 | 4.3 |
| 1971 | 10 | #3,203 | 5.7 |
| 1970 | 8 | #3,598 | 4.3 |
| 1969 | 12 | #2,577 | 6.7 |
| 1968 | 12 | #2,480 | 6.9 |
| 1967 | 10 | #2,645 | 5.7 |
| 1966 | 12 | #2,364 | 6.7 |
| 1965 | 11 | #2,512 | 5.9 |
| 1964 | 13 | #2,344 | 6.5 |
| 1963 | 20 | #1,806 | 9.8 |
| 1962 | 26 | #1,555 | 12.6 |
| 1961 | 19 | #1,896 | 8.9 |
| 1960 | 14 | #2,239 | 6.6 |
| 1959 | 23 | #1,676 | 10.8 |
| 1958 | 16 | #2,046 | 7.5 |
| 1957 | 14 | #2,213 | 6.5 |
| 1956 | 12 | #2,402 | 5.7 |
| 1955 | 10 | #2,628 | 4.9 |
| 1954 | 18 | #1,846 | 8.8 |
| 1953 | 14 | #2,121 | 7.1 |
| 1952 | 18 | #1,818 | 9.3 |
| 1951 | 18 | #1,792 | 9.6 |
| 1950 | 10 | #2,475 | 5.6 |
| 1949 | 17 | #1,837 | 9.6 |
| 1948 | 11 | #2,363 | 6.3 |
| 1947 | 12 | #2,275 | 6.6 |
| 1946 | 13 | #2,059 | 8.0 |
| 1945 | 13 | #1,950 | 9.7 |
| 1944 | 8 | #2,690 | 5.9 |
| 1943 | 14 | #2,003 | 9.8 |
| 1942 | 16 | #1,818 | 11.6 |
| 1941 | 11 | #2,237 | 9.0 |
| 1940 | 10 | #2,369 | 8.6 |
| 1939 | 11 | #2,198 | 9.9 |
| 1938 | 16 | #1,763 | 14.4 |
| 1937 | 10 | #2,361 | 9.4 |
| 1936 | 14 | #1,899 | 13.5 |
| 1935 | 13 | #2,061 | 12.5 |
| 1934 | 16 | #1,800 | 15.5 |
| 1933 | 15 | #1,850 | 15.1 |
| 1932 | 12 | #2,222 | 11.5 |
| 1931 | 18 | #1,718 | 17.3 |
| 1930 | 20 | #1,659 | 18.2 |
| 1929 | 14 | #2,120 | 13.0 |
| 1928 | 15 | #2,073 | 13.5 |
| 1927 | 22 | #1,658 | 19.5 |
| 1926 | 16 | #2,005 | 14.4 |
| 1925 | 17 | #1,950 | 15.2 |
| 1924 | 19 | #1,855 | 16.8 |
| 1923 | 17 | #1,964 | 15.5 |
| 1922 | 23 | #1,601 | 21.1 |
| 1921 | 13 | #2,409 | 11.8 |
| 1920 | 18 | #1,903 | 16.9 |
| 1919 | 21 | #1,643 | 21.4 |
| 1918 | 22 | #1,614 | 21.7 |
| 1917 | 17 | #1,838 | 18.4 |
| 1916 | 20 | #1,604 | 22.5 |
| 1915 | 15 | #1,897 | 17.7 |
| 1914 | 12 | #1,894 | 18.3 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,709 | 21.5 |
| 1912 | 7 | #2,095 | 16.3 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,812 | 22.1 |
| 1901 | 6 | #978 | 56.4 |
| 1899 | 6 | #962 | 56.5 |
| 1898 | 9 | #759 | 73.4 |
| 1897 | 8 | #802 | 70.9 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,121 | 42.6 |
| 1893 | 10 | #667 | 89.0 |
| 1890 | 9 | #683 | 81.1 |
| 1889 | 6 | #903 | 54.3 |
| 1887 | 5 | #971 | 49.3 |
| 1883 | 8 | #691 | 76.5 |
| 1882 | 7 | #773 | 61.6 |
| 1880 | 5 | #944 | 45.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Dow a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Dow has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 91 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Dow: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Dow, and how old are they?
An estimated 415 Americans named Dow and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (38% of everyone recorded); the median is 64 years old and half are between 54 and 73. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 610 people named Dow (55 women and girls, 555 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 487 born in the U.S. The Census count is 25% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
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).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Dow
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 Dow and names like it
- Compare Dow and MartBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sDow peaked in 1962.
- Ohio’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Dow since 1910.
- The top names of 1962The year the most babies were named Dow.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Dow alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.