Dorian
Masculine · “of the Dorians”
Dorian is given to both — 24,187 boys and 4,541 girls since 1880. See Dorian as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Nobody was called Dorian before 1890. It was the name of a Greek tribe, an order of architecture and a musical mode, and then Oscar Wilde used it for a young man whose portrait ages instead of him. Within a generation it was on birth certificates.
How old is the name Dorian?
Dorian first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Dorian alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 23,000 people named Dorian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dorian most popular?
Dorian peaked in 2000, reaching #398 nationally. Today it ranks #539, 141 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.
Dorian appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Dorieus to Dorian
The story of Dorian
The Dorians were the Greeks of Sparta, Corinth and Crete, and later Greek writers built a whole set of associations around them — plain, severe, unadorned — which is why the plainest of the three column orders is called Doric and why the Dorian mode had a reputation for steadiness. Wilde took the word and gave it to a character who is the opposite of all that: a young man of remarkable beauty who does not change while a painting of him does. The novel was attacked on publication and used against Wilde at his trial five years later. The name went into use anyway, which says something about how a book can hand a word to people who never read it.
Meaning
of the Dorians
From Greek Dorieus, belonging to the Dorians, one of the four groups the Greeks divided themselves into. The tribe's own name is of unknown origin. The word survives in the Doric order of columns and in the Dorian mode in music, both of them named for the same people.
How the name formed
- Dorieus
- Dorian
Related forms: Dorian · Dorian · Doriano
Pronouncing Dorian
DOR-ee-un
Three syllables, stress on the first. French and Romanian put the weight at the end, do-ree-AN. Nothing in the spelling is ambiguous in either language.
Nicknames for Dorian
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 2008641 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #398reached in 2000
- Change vs 2023
- +19.0%557 in 2025, from 468
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.
Dorian in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dorian in French — same name
- Dorian in Romanian — same name
- Doriano in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Dorians among us
people named Dorian are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,067 born in 2025 was named Dorian
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 Antwan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dorian's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Antwan climbed just as high around 1979, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Antwan's path sketches the road Dorian is walking now.
Dorian 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 Dorian is headed
Dorian should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Dorian beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dorian in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Greek origin visible in two ordinary English words, Doric and Dorian.
- The same spelling in French, Romanian and English.
- Three short forms, all of which serve either child.
- The novel is the reason the name exists, and readers will mention it.
- Its most famous bearer is fictional, ageless and not a good man, which is a lot to carry.
- The very few girls given this spelling will be read as boys on every form.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Dorian to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Dorian? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Dorian
Masculine · #539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dorians are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 23,000 people named Dorian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dorian in 2025?
- Dorian ranks #539 among US boy names in 2025, with 557 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dorian?
- About 1 in every 3,067 US boys born in 2025 was named Dorian — 557 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dorian with classmates?
- Dorian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dorian
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kaison#539 · Hamza#541 · Akari#542 · Zachariah#536 · Eiden#536 · Cal#542 · Bruce#536 · Kendrick#535
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dorian? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dorian and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle