How rare is the name Dudley?

5,342 people in the United States have the first name Dudley, about 1 in 56,539. It ranks #3,744 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

DUDLEY

#3,744

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,342
About
1 in 56,539
This common or more
83%
Who bears it

Of the 5,342 people named Dudley, 71.7% reported their origin as White, 20.9% as Black and 2.5% as two or more races. 97.6% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Dudley peaked in 1931, when 286 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1931
Births that year
286
In 2025*
6 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 11,988 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.

Dudley by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #715. The largest share of babies named Dudley, 27.6%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#715270
1890s#942253
1900s#1,011312
1910s#8911,393
1920s#8981,995
1930s#8681,887
1940s#1,0181,819
1950s#1,2111,865
1960s#1,7691,039
1970s#3,347411
1980s#4,941291
1990s#8,084199
2000s#15,600107
2010s#17,08397
2020s#18,07850
Before 19014.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2727.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4527.5%
Baby boom 1946–6427.6%
Generation X 1965–806.9%
Millennials 1981–963.4%
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 Dudley is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Dudley has been most common in Louisiana (8.3×), Mississippi (4.8×), and Kentucky (2.9×), and least common in New Jersey (0.27×).

6,972 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.

Exactly as common as Dudley

1 other first name also has 5,342 people.

#3,744 Thurman · 5,342

Either side of Dudley

#3,742 Wilber · 5,360#3,743 Kandace · 5,354#3,744 Thurman · 5,342#3,746 Tena · 5,339

Also a last name

As a last name, Dudley ranks #999 of 156,621, with 34,312 people. See Dudley as a last name

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