Dacey
Feminine
Dacey may be an Irish surname, a Norman one, or a build using the -ey ending that American naming favors, and the record does not choose. A Latin word beginning the same way named a punishment that people now use to mean something much milder.
How old is the name Dacey?
Dacey first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Dacey alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 600 people named Dacey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dacey most popular?
Dacey peaked in 1999, reaching #3313 nationally. See the whole 1999 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Dacey
Decimation was a Roman army punishment and the arithmetic was the point. A unit judged guilty of cowardice or mutiny was divided into groups of ten; each group drew lots, and the nine beat the one to death. The killing was done by the condemned man's own comrades, which is what made it a punishment for the whole unit rather than for an individual, and survivors were put on barley rations outside the camp. It was rare even in Roman practice and regarded as extreme when it happened. The modern English use — decimated to mean devastated — is much broader than the word's arithmetic, which annoys some people; the complaint is old, and the broad sense has been in English for several hundred years.
Meaningnot established
Not established
An Irish surname of this sound exists, anglicized from an Ó form; so does a French one. Either can be used as a first name, and so can a build of the same shape. Nothing in the record indicates which.
Pronouncing Dacey
DAY-see
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The Irish surname is often said the same way, so the reading makes no audible difference.
Nicknames for Dacey
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1974
- Most girls named
- 200239 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3313reached in 1999
- Change vs 2022
- −61.5%5 in 2024, from 13
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Daceys among us
people named Dacey are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Dacey sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest shape English has.
- Five letters with no silent ones make it quick to write.
- It works equally well for a child of either sex.
- Dacy, Dacie and Daisy will all be written for it.
- It is frequently heard as a variant of the flower name.
- Nothing records which of the three origins applies.
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Dacey
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Daceys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Dacey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dacey in 2025?
- Dacey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Dacey with classmates?
- Dacey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dacey? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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