Dorothy
Pronounced D AO1 R AH0 TH IY0 (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 1924
- 145 years in use
- 1 spelling
How popular is Dorothy?
Dorothy is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 1,135,564 children — the 11th most common girls' name on record.
It peaked in 1924, went quiet for most of a century, and is climbing again. Its best single year was 1924, when 40,604 children were given it.
Dorthy is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Dorothy and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Dorthy
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- D AO1 R AH0 TH IY0 · D AO1 R TH IY0
- Stress pattern:
- 100 · 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Dorothy
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Dorothy
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Dorothy?
- Dorothy ranks 11th among girls' names in US records, with 1,135,564 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 5,745.
- Is Dorothy a unisex name?
- No. Dorothy is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Dorothy most popular?
- 1924, when 40,604 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Dorothy spelled?
- Dorthy. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.