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Dory

#12,244 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Diminutive of Dorothy

Dory has been given to 1,092 babies in the U.S. since 1946. In 2025 it ranked #12,244 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1964, with 34 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 89% girls, 11% boys all-time.

Babies named Dory, 2025

1 in 474,000

Dory over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Dory over time

In 2025, Dory went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19192025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Dory: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Dorothy

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Dory means

Dory is a diminutive of Dorothy.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Dory is used in English.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɔɹ.i/ for Dory.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Dorothy and Doris.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 968 girls were recorded with the name Dory between 1946 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 34 in 1964; its best national rank was #2,044 in 1964.

In the United States, 124 boys were recorded with the name Dory between 1919 and 1986. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1972; its best national rank was #2,568 in 1972.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Dory?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 474,000
7 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 230,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#12,244
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
328,272 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Dory sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Dory. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Dorys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Dory was born before 1972 — so the typical Dory is around 53 today.

Median birth year
1972
About 53 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
24.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
15.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
948
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 24.0% of all recorded uses (232).

Is Dory rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−2,513
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
20.6%
Peak was 1964 (34)
Years since peak
61
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
16.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,044
1964

Spellings of Dory

Dory is not the most common spelling — Mary is, with 67.0% against Dory's 0.02%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Dory is used

Across 1910–2025, Dory was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 642,753 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Dory has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Dory around the world

Where Dory ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2019–2024
    #3,319
    in 2024
  • France
    1994–1994
    #3,856
    in 1994

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Dory by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#12,244
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#2,044
1964
Peak year
1964
34 that year
First recorded
1946
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
968
Count in 2025
7

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,568
1972
Peak year
1972
14 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
1986
All-time count
124
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Dory

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

DoriaDorinaJoryKoryDoriDorlaDormaAmoryDorieDoreeAvoryToryStoryElloryDorrieDoreDorseyDorianDoriceDorenaMemoryDoritaMaloryCory

Sibling names for Dory

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Dory

Top names of 1964, Dory's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1964Girls' names starting with D