# Dov (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/dov/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | “bear” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,623 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,623 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 243, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Hebrew דוב (dov, “bear”)

## What it means

Dov is grouped under bear.

## 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, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 98 | 1,580 |
| 2012 | 94 | 1,641 |
| 2013 | 86 | 1,715 |
| 2014 | 98 | 1,599 |
| 2015 | 119 | 1,435 |
| 2016 | 142 | 1,281 |
| 2017 | 118 | 1,451 |
| 2018 | 115 | 1,501 |
| 2019 | 134 | 1,341 |
| 2020 | 115 | 1,480 |
| 2021 | 143 | 1,310 |
| 2022 | 160 | 1,230 |
| 2023 | 153 | 1,259 |
| 2024 | 137 | 1,372 |
| 2025 | 123 | 1,453 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14 | 1,600 |
| 2012 | 7 | 2,721 |
| 2013 | 8 | 2,403 |
| 2014 | 7 | 2,690 |
| 2015 | 5 | 3,373 |
| 2016 | 7 | 2,804 |
| 2017 | 13 | 1,812 |
| 2018 | 11 | 1,991 |
| 2019 | 16 | 1,506 |
| 2020 | 10 | 2,076 |
| 2021 | 15 | 1,595 |
| 2022 | 16 | 1,534 |
| 2023 | 19 | 1,363 |
| 2024 | 12 | 1,951 |
| 2025 | 7 | 2,952 |

## People named Dov

- Dov Shilansky, 10th Speaker of the Knesset (1924–2010)
- Asher Angel, American actor
- Ber Borochov, founder of the Labor Zionist movement (1881-1917)
- Joseph B. Soloveitchik, American rabbi and theologian (1903–1993)
- Yaakov Bleich, American rabbi

## 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.