# Dawson (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/dawson/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɔːsən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 54,199 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 52,802 / 1,397 (3% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,345, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Daw, a Middle English pet form of David + -son.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 24 | 5,593 |
| 2012 | 32 | 4,524 |
| 2013 | 32 | 4,448 |
| 2014 | 44 | 3,554 |
| 2015 | 66 | 2,688 |
| 2016 | 82 | 2,313 |
| 2017 | 64 | 2,699 |
| 2018 | 98 | 2,000 |
| 2019 | 82 | 2,237 |
| 2020 | 73 | 2,398 |
| 2021 | 99 | 1,973 |
| 2022 | 94 | 2,052 |
| 2023 | 100 | 1,969 |
| 2024 | 90 | 2,121 |
| 2025 | 81 | 2,260 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,012 | 315 |
| 2012 | 1,036 | 316 |
| 2013 | 1,036 | 320 |
| 2014 | 1,083 | 320 |
| 2015 | 1,594 | 238 |
| 2016 | 1,795 | 216 |
| 2017 | 2,018 | 196 |
| 2018 | 2,101 | 194 |
| 2019 | 1,960 | 202 |
| 2020 | 1,918 | 197 |
| 2021 | 1,832 | 207 |
| 2022 | 2,047 | 184 |
| 2023 | 2,451 | 149 |
| 2024 | 2,587 | 139 |
| 2025 | 2,487 | 143 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 57 | 602 |
| 2012 | 45 | 734 |
| 2013 | 55 | 621 |
| 2014 | 57 | 611 |
| 2015 | 86 | 470 |
| 2016 | 86 | 470 |
| 2017 | 76 | 517 |
| 2018 | 76 | 511 |
| 2019 | 77 | 506 |
| 2020 | 67 | 551 |
| 2021 | 69 | 556 |
| 2022 | 69 | 555 |
| 2023 | 54 | 651 |
| 2024 | 68 | 560 |
| 2025 | 81 | 478 |

## People named Dawson

- Dawson Mercer, Canadian ice hockey player
- Dawson Turner, English banker, botanist and antiquary (1775-1858)
- Dawson Knox, American football player (born 1996)
- Dawson Mathis, American politician (1940-2017)
- Richard Kiel, American actor (1939–2014)
- Johnny Winter, American blues guitarist and singer (1944–2014)
- Daws Butler, American voice actor (1916–1988)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.