Dawson
Feminine · “son of David”
Dawson is given to boys far more often — 52,802 boys against 1,397 girls since 1880. See Dawson as a boy name
Dawson is son of Daw, and Daw was a medieval English pet form of David — beloved, in Hebrew.
How old is the name Dawson?
Dawson first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Dawson is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,400 people named Dawson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dawson most popular?
Dawson peaked in 2023, reaching #1965 nationally. Today it ranks #2256, 291 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From David to Dawson
The story of Dawson
Middle English pet forms substituted consonants freely — Rob and Hob for Robert, Rick and Dick for Richard, Dave and Daw for David — and Dawson preserves one of them. The surname is northern English. It became an American given name for boys and, recently, for girls, and is in current use.
Meaning
son of David
A patronymic from Daw, a medieval English pet form of David, from the Hebrew David, generally read as 'beloved'. The d-to-w substitution in pet forms is regular in Middle English, as in Hodge for Roger. The construction is documented.
How the name formed
- David
- Daw
- Dawson
Related forms: Dawsen · Davison
Pronouncing Dawson
DAW-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Dawson
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
- 1998
- Most girls named
- 2023100 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1965reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −10.0%81 in 2025, from 90
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.
Dawson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dawsen in English — spelling variant
- Davison in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, North Carolina.
Dawsons among us
people named Dawson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 19,843 born in 2025 was named Dawson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Shalisa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dawson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shalisa climbed just as high around 1989, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shalisa's path sketches the road Dawson is walking now.
Dawson sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Dawson is headed
Dawson should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Dawson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dawson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That medieval pet forms swapped consonants this freely is a first-rate fact.
- The beloved meaning behind David is transparent and undisputed.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It reads as masculine and as a surname to most English speakers.
- One 1990s television series is a lasting association.
- The feminine use is very new.
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What they receive
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Dawson
Feminine · #2256 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dawsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Dawson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dawson in 2025?
- Dawson ranks #2256 among US girl names in 2025, with 81 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dawson?
- About 1 in every 19,843 US girls born in 2025 was named Dawson — 81 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dawson with classmates?
- Dawson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dawson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jensen#2256 · Miabella#2256 · Toni#2256 · Alita#2256 · Lillyana#2256 · Daylin#2256 · Linden#2256 · Leonor#2256
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dawson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dawson and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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