Dawn
Girl nameDawn has been given to 290,680 babies in the U.S. since 1888. It peaked in 1970.
Meaning & origin
From dawn.
Origin: English
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
290,680
Peak year
1970 (15,724 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1888
10-year trend
▼ -14%
Gender split
100% girls / 0% boys
Rank through the decades
Dawn's rank among U.S. girl names at 25-year milestones.
| Year | Girls rank |
|---|---|
| 1925 | #639 |
| 1950 | #191 |
| 1975 | #23 |
| 2000 | #910 |
— means outside the top 1000 that year.
Spellings & variants
Names one letter away from Dawn — alternate spellings parents actually use.
Famous people named Dawn
k.d. lang
Canadian singer-songwriter
Dawn Fraser
Australian swimmer and politician
Tiffany Thornton
American actress
Dawn French
British actress, comedian and writer (born 1957)
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Dawn.
FAQ
How popular is the name Dawn?
Dawn has been given to 290,680 babies in the U.S. since 1888. It ranked below the top 1000 in 2025.
When did the name Dawn peak?
Dawn peaked in 1970, when 15,724 babies were given the name.
Is Dawn a girl or boy name?
Dawn is primarily a girl name (100% of babies named Dawn are girls).
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