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Dot

#9,015 in 2025Girls' name

Diminutive of Dorothy

Dot has been given to 1,392 babies in the U.S. since 1883. In 2025 it ranked #9,015 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1935, with 46 recorded.

Babies named Dot, 2025

1 in 301,000

Dot over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Dot: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Dorothy

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Dot means

Dot is a diminutive of Dorothy.

Origin, language, and formation

Dot is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Dorothy.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,370 girls were recorded with the name Dot between 1883 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 46 in 1935; its best national rank was #733 in 1888.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #12,491 in 2020 to #9,015 in 2025.

In the United States, 22 boys were recorded with the name Dot between 1916 and 1927. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1916; its best national rank was #3,257 in 1916.

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 Dot?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 301,000
11 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 146,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#9,015
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
208,901 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Dot 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 208,901 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Dot. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Dots were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Dot was born before 1931 — so the typical Dot is around 94 today.

Median birth year
1931
About 94 years old
Biggest decade
1930s
26.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
4.5%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
197
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1930s — 26.5% of all recorded uses (363).

Is Dot 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
+2,355
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+3,476
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
23.9%
Peak was 1935 (46)
Years since peak
90
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
41.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#733
1888

Where Dot is used

Across 1910–2025, Dot was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in 33,333 girls, against 1 in 188,422 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

03 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Alabama1 in 33,333
  2. 2Mississippi1 in 50,000
  3. 3North Carolina1 in —
  4. 4South Carolina1 in —
  5. 5Tennessee1 in —
  6. 6Texas1 in —
  7. 7Virginia1 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. Dot has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Dot around the world

Where Dot 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
    2018–2024
    #4,193
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1999–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Dot by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#9,015
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 3,476
Best rank ever
#733
1888
Peak year
1935
46 that year
First recorded
1883
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,370
Count in 2025
11

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,257
1916
Peak year
1916
7 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
1927
All-time count
22
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Dot

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

DottyDottieDottiDottDotsieDotsyMaedotDottyeDotyDothaBardotPeridot

Sibling names for Dot

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 Dot

Top names of 1935, Dot's peak yearThe 1930s in fullOther names that peaked in 1888Girls' names starting with DTheodore Variations & Nicknames