Dusty
Dusty is given to both girls and boys: 9 girls and 32 boys were given it in 2025 (#10,312 among girls’ names and #3,531 among boys’, #6,432 among all names counting both); 15,131 Americans have been recorded with it since 1927 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Boys have outnumbered girls among babies named Dusty every year since 1980.
An estimated 13,900 Americans named Dusty and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (92% of everyone recorded); the median is 43 years old and half are between 33 and 50.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Dusty by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Dusty mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Dusty is “a diminutive of the male given name Dustin.”
Derived from Dustin.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Dusty?
#3,531 among boys’ names, 2025
Dusty fell from #2,574 in 2015 to #3,531 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 25.0 to 18.7 per million.
831 babies in 1981, the peak
Dusty peaked in 1981, when 831 babies were given it (602 boys, #316 among boys’ names). The 41 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 5% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | #10,312 | 32 | #3,531 |
| 2024 | 17 | #6,704 | 26 | #4,101 |
| 2023 | 14 | #7,741 | 34 | #3,435 |
| 2022 | 19 | #6,276 | 45 | #2,836 |
| 2021 | 16 | #7,036 | 31 | #3,596 |
| 2020 | 15 | #7,308 | 38 | #3,033 |
| 2019 | 13 | #8,243 | 37 | #3,152 |
| 2018 | 16 | #7,187 | 30 | #3,626 |
| 2017 | 10 | #10,164 | 34 | #3,330 |
| 2016 | 14 | #8,113 | 38 | #3,076 |
Every recorded year (87)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 16 | #7,366 | 48 | #2,574 |
| 2014 | 14 | #8,170 | 42 | #2,820 |
| 2013 | 8 | #12,312 | 54 | #2,342 |
| 2012 | 17 | #7,227 | 49 | #2,527 |
| 2011 | 13 | #8,767 | 34 | #3,258 |
| 2010 | 15 | #8,002 | 60 | #2,190 |
| 2009 | 10 | #10,897 | 77 | #1,875 |
| 2008 | 13 | #9,112 | 68 | #2,043 |
| 2007 | 18 | #7,164 | 81 | #1,800 |
| 2006 | 13 | #8,864 | 84 | #1,689 |
| 2005 | 21 | #5,871 | 106 | #1,403 |
| 2004 | 21 | #5,805 | 93 | #1,468 |
| 2003 | 20 | #5,874 | 93 | #1,419 |
| 2002 | 20 | #5,727 | 102 | #1,307 |
| 2001 | 28 | #4,349 | 102 | #1,286 |
| 2000 | 37 | #3,536 | 118 | #1,165 |
| 1999 | 39 | #3,261 | 131 | #1,048 |
| 1998 | 52 | #2,623 | 128 | #1,052 |
| 1997 | 46 | #2,709 | 178 | #817 |
| 1996 | 42 | #2,857 | 194 | #760 |
| 1995 | 60 | #2,219 | 223 | #711 |
| 1994 | 66 | #2,083 | 259 | #646 |
| 1993 | 54 | #2,354 | 209 | #713 |
| 1992 | 32 | #3,431 | 143 | #882 |
| 1991 | 53 | #2,388 | 170 | #784 |
| 1990 | 55 | #2,295 | 249 | #640 |
| 1989 | 59 | #2,097 | 249 | #631 |
| 1988 | 83 | #1,582 | 355 | #489 |
| 1987 | 101 | #1,351 | 405 | #443 |
| 1986 | 67 | #1,740 | 378 | #446 |
| 1985 | 94 | #1,374 | 352 | #457 |
| 1984 | 90 | #1,345 | 332 | #464 |
| 1983 | 129 | #1,072 | 309 | #482 |
| 1982 | 114 | #1,194 | 517 | #354 |
| 1981 | 229 | #720 | 602 | #316 |
| 1980 | 289 | #631 | 495 | #359 |
| 1979 | 194 | #815 | 193 | #614 |
| 1978 | 212 | #737 | 226 | #555 |
| 1977 | 241 | #661 | 189 | #612 |
| 1976 | 281 | #583 | 178 | #612 |
| 1975 | 206 | #719 | 148 | #676 |
| 1974 | 134 | #931 | 165 | #626 |
| 1973 | 148 | #871 | 135 | #688 |
| 1972 | 143 | #887 | 135 | #688 |
| 1971 | 111 | #1,086 | 119 | #750 |
| 1970 | 103 | #1,137 | 138 | #707 |
| 1969 | 71 | #1,362 | 113 | #736 |
| 1968 | 38 | #1,947 | 71 | #862 |
| 1967 | 41 | #1,825 | 57 | #958 |
| 1966 | 26 | #2,368 | 61 | #933 |
| 1965 | 20 | #2,765 | 77 | #839 |
| 1964 | 24 | #2,552 | 70 | #907 |
| 1963 | 12 | #3,863 | 65 | #931 |
| 1962 | 14 | #3,472 | 71 | #904 |
| 1961 | 18 | #2,985 | 74 | #889 |
| 1960 | 13 | #3,549 | 90 | #805 |
| 1959 | 18 | #2,787 | 93 | #795 |
| 1958 | 13 | #3,420 | 88 | #796 |
| 1957 | 10 | #4,004 | 89 | #796 |
| 1956 | 21 | #2,478 | 90 | #783 |
| 1955 | 9 | #4,156 | 78 | #830 |
| 1954 | 34 | #1,778 | 89 | #753 |
| 1953 | 20 | #2,379 | 52 | #1,003 |
| 1952 | 15 | #2,845 | 46 | #1,069 |
| 1951 | 17 | #2,505 | 41 | #1,124 |
| 1950 | 13 | #2,945 | 41 | #1,106 |
| 1949 | 10 | #3,448 | 36 | #1,188 |
| 1948 | 9 | #3,668 | 27 | #1,408 |
| 1947 | 17 | #2,477 | 22 | #1,614 |
| 1946 | 18 | #2,249 | 21 | #1,568 |
| 1945 | 9 | #3,202 | 6 | #3,092 |
| 1944 | 5 | #4,750 | 8 | #2,691 |
| 1941 | under 5 | 5 | #3,639 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 5 | #3,589 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 5 | #3,806 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 6 | #3,666 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 5 | #4,359 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Dusty a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 15,131 Americans recorded as Dusty, 30% are girls and 70% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Dusty: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Dusty, and how old are they?
13,900 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 92% of the 15,131 Americans ever recorded as Dusty. The median Dusty alive today is 43 years old; half are between 33 and 50.
The 2020 Census counted 12,895 people named Dusty (3,836 women and girls, 9,059 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 13,971 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 18 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,060 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,370 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5,970 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,850 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 665 |
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 Dusty born?
The states with the most babies named Dusty are Texas, California and Oklahoma, with 37% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Oklahoma is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 2,008 | #2,671 | 1.7× |
| California | 811 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Oklahoma | 633 | not ranked | 3.1× |
| Ohio | 535 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Louisiana | 487 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Georgia | 434 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Tennessee | 416 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Missouri | 325 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Indiana | 316 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 294 | not ranked | 0.7× |
Where Dusty is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Dusty is most over-represented in Oklahoma: since 1927 it was given 3.1 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 Dusty with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
More about Dusty and names like it
- The most given names of the 1980sDusty peaked in 1981.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Dusty since 1910.
- The top names of 1981The year the most babies were named Dusty.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Dusty alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with DMost given first.