Dodge
Masculine · “Germanic hrod and ger”
Dodge is Roger. Medieval English made nicknames by substituting the first consonant, so Roger gave Hodge and Dodge, Richard gave Hick and Dick, Robert gave Bob, and Margaret gave Peggy. Those nicknames froze into surnames, and a name that sounds like a car company is a rhyme on a Norman French given name.
How old is the name Dodge?
Dodge first appears in US birth records in 1937 — 88 years ago. The typical Dodge alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 700 people named Dodge are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dodge most popular?
Dodge peaked in 2010, reaching #3072 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 5,171 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
From Roger to Dodge
The story of Dodge
Rhyming and substituting nicknames are peculiar to English among European languages and nobody has explained why. The pattern is well attested from the thirteenth century: a name is shortened, then its initial consonant is swapped for another, and the result becomes a name in its own right. Robert gives Rob and then Bob and Hob and Dob; Richard gives Rick and then Dick and Hick; Roger gives Hodge and Dodge; William gives Will and then Bill; Margaret gives Meg and then Peg. Nearly all of these went on to become surnames, so English family names preserve a layer of medieval nickname formation that the spoken language later abandoned. Dodge, Hodges, Dobson, Hobbs, Hicks and Dickens all descend from it. The car company was founded by two brothers who carried the surname.
Meaningscholars disagree
Germanic hrod and ger, fame and spear
Dodge is generally derived from Dogge, a medieval English pet form of Roger, itself from Germanic hrod, fame, and ger, a spear. The rhyming substitution of d for r is the same device that produces Hodge from Roger and Dick from Richard. An alternative derivation from a place name has been proposed and is less well supported. As an American given name Dodge peaks in 2010.
How the name formed
- Roger
- Dogge
- Dodge
Related forms: Hodge · Roger
Pronouncing Dodge
doj
One syllable, rhyming with lodge. Identical to the English verb. There is no competing reading.
Nicknames for Dodge
Limited
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
- 1937
- Most boys named
- 201037 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3072reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- −55.0%9 in 2025, from 20
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.
Dodge in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hodge in English — related form
- Roger in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Dodges among us
people named Dodge are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Dodge
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 Quintel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dodge's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Quintel climbed just as high around 1987, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Quintel's path sketches the road Dodge is walking now.
Dodge 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
Dodge beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dodge in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, short and unmistakable.
- It has a documented medieval history that almost nobody expects.
- It fits the current fashion for plain English nouns as boys' names.
- It is an English verb about avoidance.
- The car company dominates the association in the United States.
- It reads as a surname to most people.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Dodge
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dodges are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Dodge are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dodge in 2025?
- Dodge ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dodge?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Dodge — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dodge with classmates?
- Dodge will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dodge
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Danial#8243 · Ogden#8243 · Aaren#8243 · Trinity#8243 · Kourtney#8243 · Maury#8243 · Lindon#8243 · Elbert#8243
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dodge? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dodge and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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