Dori vs Dorothea
American parents have registered 34,427 Dorotheas since 1880, against 4,952 Doris. Dorothea is still ahead, with 113 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Dori Dorothea
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Dorothea for 119 years and Dori for 27 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.
- 1880–1969 Dorothea ahead
- 1970–1984 Dori ahead
- 1985–1992 Dorothea ahead
- 2003–2008 Dori ahead
- 2009–2025 Dorothea ahead
8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Dori | Dorothea | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 4,952 | 34,427 |
| Most in one year | 211 | 1,110 |
| Babies in 2025 | 17 | 113 |
| Estimated living today | 4,500 | 9,900 |
| Median age today | 55 | 67 |
| Peak year | 1961 | 1920 |
| Best rank | 714th girls | 187th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 6,546th | 1,777th |
| First recorded | 1946 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 4,952 / 0 | 34,421 / 6 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Dorotheas alive today are over 67; half the Doris are over 55. That is 12 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Dori California (2.2×), New Jersey (2.1×), Minnesota (2.1×)
- Dorothea Massachusetts (3.1×), New York (2.3×), Pennsylvania (2.2×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Dori and Dorothea.