How rare is the name Dewey?

11,845 people in the United States have the first name Dewey, about 1 in 25,499. It ranks #2,214 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

DEWEY

#2,214

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
11,845
About
1 in 25,499
This common or more
79%
Who bears it

Of the 11,845 people named Dewey, 84.5% reported their origin as White, 7.6% as Black and 3.3% as two or more races. 99.1% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Dewey peaked in 1898, when 1,219 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18872025
Peak year
1898
Births that year
1,219
In 2025*
28 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 34,920 babies have been given the name since 1887. 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.

Dewey by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1890s, when it ranked #279. The largest share of babies named Dewey, 28.8%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2,15925
1890s#2792,062
1900s#4361,359
1910s#5593,028
1920s#4287,370
1930s#4925,432
1940s#5735,410
1950s#8223,842
1960s#1,0762,627
1970s#1,4671,635
1980s#2,292921
1990s#4,300492
2000s#7,323317
2010s#9,527234
2020s#8,340166
Before 19017%
Greatest Generation 1901–2728.8%
Silent Generation 1928–4528.7%
Baby boom 1946–6421.4%
Generation X 1965–808.4%
Millennials 1981–963.3%
Generation Z 1997–121.5%
2013 and later0.9%

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 Dewey is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Dewey has been most common in West Virginia (4.6×), Kentucky (4.4×), and Alabama (3.9×), and least common in Minnesota (0.11×).

26,819 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 Dewey

#2,212 Rhoda · 11,868#2,213 Evie · 11,863#2,215 Brenton · 11,836#2,216 Chelsie · 11,816

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Dewey, most common first.

#46,679 Dewy · 142

Also a last name

As a last name, Dewey ranks #3,025 of 156,621, with 11,620 people. See Dewey as a last name

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