Dagon
A Semitic name referring to an ancient Mesopotamian god of fertility and agriculture.
Name Census estimates that about 182 living Americans carry the first name Dagon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dagon today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dagon births was 2008 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dagon. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
182
~ 1 in 1,883,266 Americans
Peak year
2008
22 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#7,364
Tracked since 1996
Census
Dagon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 203 people with the first name Dagon, which placed it at #38,074 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#38,074
National first-name rank
People counted
203
203 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dagon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dagon is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and Hispanic (8.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dagon described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dagon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.9% · 148
- Two or more races9.9% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 8
- Black or African American3.0% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
Popularity
Dagon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dagon from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 117 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dagon by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dagon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dagon
The name Dagon has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages and cultures of the Middle East, dating back to around the second millennium BCE. It is derived from the Semitic word "dag," which means "fish" or "grain." This suggests that the name was likely associated with deities or figures related to agriculture or maritime activities.
One of the earliest and most notable references to Dagon is found in the Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a Philistine deity. In the Book of Judges and the Books of Samuel, Dagon is described as a god worshiped by the Philistines, and his temple is mentioned in the context of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines.
In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, Dagon was also associated with fertility and crop cultivation. Some scholars believe that the name may have been derived from the Akkadian word "dagnu," meaning "grain" or "fertile land." This connection to agriculture and fertility could explain why the name was used in various ancient cultures of the region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dagon was a Phoenician king who ruled in the city of Byblos around the 10th century BCE. Another notable figure was Dagon, a ruler of the Philistine city of Ashdod, who is mentioned in the Bible as an adversary of the Israelites.
In more recent history, there have been a few individuals who bore the name Dagon, although it is relatively uncommon. One example is Dagon Godeffroy (1785-1846), a French botanist and explorer who traveled extensively in the Pacific Islands and made significant contributions to the study of Pacific flora.
Another individual named Dagon was Dagon Buadia (1884-1976), a Filipino artist and sculptor who was known for his works depicting scenes from Philippine history and culture. He is considered one of the pioneers of modern sculpture in the Philippines.
It is worth noting that while the name Dagon has ancient roots and historical significance, it is not widely used as a given name today, likely due to its association with pagan deities and mythological figures.
People
Dagon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dagon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dagon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dagon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 182 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dagon going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,883,266 US residents.
Is Dagon a common name?
We classify Dagon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 184 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dagon most popular?
The single biggest year for Dagon was 2008, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dagon is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dagon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 203 people with the name Dagon, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,074 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dagon in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dagon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dagon leans strongly male. 199 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 3 female bearers (1.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dagon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dagon is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and Hispanic (8.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dagon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dagon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (148 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dagon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dagon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dagon in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dagon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dagon in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dagon can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Dagon as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Dagon on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.