How rare is the name Dave?

67,929 people in the United States have the first name Dave, about 1 in 4,446. It ranks #749 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

DAVE

#749

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
67,929
About
1 in 4,446
This common or more
65.6%
Who bears it

Of the 67,929 people named Dave, 80.3% reported their origin as White, 8.1% as Black and 4.9% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Dave peaked in 1959, when 3,308 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1959
Births that year
3,308
In 2025*
55 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 64,492 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Dave by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #265. The largest share of babies named Dave, 50.2%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#2651,344
1890s#3701,281
1900s#4851,133
1910s#5992,730
1920s#6653,445
1930s#5224,825
1940s#35711,767
1950s#39714,851
1960s#39115,808
1970s#1,1192,589
1980s#1,7111,517
1990s#2,5171,106
2000s#3,359987
2010s#4,397717
2020s#4,684392
Before 19014.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2710.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4517.8%
Baby boom 1946–6450.2%
Generation X 1965–8010.5%
Millennials 1981–963.4%
Generation Z 1997–122.3%
2013 and later1.4%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Dave is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Dave has been most common in Montana (2.5×), Washington (2.3×), and Oregon (2×), and least common in Maine (0.14×).

56,277 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Dave

#747 Ernesto · 68,243#748 Breanna · 68,070#750 Leroy · 67,707#751 Harrison · 67,132

Spelled almost the same

7 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Dave, most common first.

#5,397 Davi · 3,192#6,310 Davey · 2,556#6,526 Davy · 2,450#7,302 Davie · 2,101#10,386 Dava · 1,290#27,468 Dav · 333#42,346 Davee · 170

Also a last name

As a last name, Dave ranks #5,598 of 156,621, with 5,994 people. See Dave as a last name

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