Dorice
Feminine
Dorice is one of the turn-of-the-century names that took a plain English form and gave it a French-looking ending, and which name it started from is not recorded. The sound it lands on is shared with a fish whose name nobody has managed to explain.
How old is the name Dorice?
Dorice first appears in US birth records in 1898 — 127 years ago. The typical Dorice alive today was born around 1950, making them about 75 years old. About 400 people named Dorice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dorice most popular?
Dorice peaked in 1898, reaching #1700 nationally. See the whole 1898 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Dorice
The flat golden fish with a dark spot on each side has been called a John Dory in English for four hundred years, and nobody has established why. The leading suggestion takes the second half from the French for gilded, which fits the color and fits the fact that the French call it something else entirely. A competing account says it is a person — a sea captain, a legendary figure from a ballad, a corruption of an Italian word for a gate — and the ballad about a man of that name really exists, though it is about a pirate rather than a fish. The first half is equally unexplained; English attaches John to a surprising number of things without explanation. The same word shape also names a small flat-bottomed boat, which is a separate word again and may come from a Central American language.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Doris with a French ending and Doreen respelled are both plausible parents, and they have different origins — one Greek, one Irish. The registers hold this spelling alone, so the question stays open and the meaning with it.
Pronouncing Dorice
duh-REESE
Two syllables with the stress at the back. Some families say DOR-iss instead, keeping the front stress of the shorter name, and nothing on the page settles it.
Nicknames for Dorice
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
- 1898
- Most girls named
- 195825 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1700reached in 1898
- Change vs 1979
- 0.0%5 in 1989, from 5
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.
Dorices among us
people named Dorice 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
Dorice 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
- It is genuinely rare and belongs to almost nobody now living.
- Two syllables with back stress gives a short name a firm landing.
- The spelling raises no real questions once the stress is known.
- Doris, Dorise and Doreece are all recorded and will be written for it.
- Stress placement is unsettled, so strangers will say it two ways.
- Neither parent name can be confirmed, so the meaning has two possible routes and no evidence.
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Dorice
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Dorices are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Dorice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dorice in 2025?
- Dorice is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Dorice with classmates?
- Dorice 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 Dorice? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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