Dasha
Feminine diminutive of the Russian name Daria, meaning "affluent" or "wealthy".
Name Census estimates that about 3,945 living Americans carry the first name Dasha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dasha today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dasha births was 1995 (135 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dasha. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dasha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.9K
~ 1 in 86,883 Americans
Peak year
1995
135 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,849
Tracked since 1968
Census
Dasha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,519 people with the first name Dasha, which placed it at #5,022 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
#5,022
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,519 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
36.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dasha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dasha is Black at 36.0%. The next largest groups are White (35.2%) and Hispanic (21.2%). 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 Dasha 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 Dasha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American36.0% · 1,267
- White35.2% · 1,239
- Hispanic or Latino21.2% · 745
- Two or more races4.8% · 170
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 81
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 17
Popularity
Dasha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dasha from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,062 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dasha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dasha 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 Dasha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dashas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Dasha, while District of Columbia, Connecticut, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 84 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dasha
The name Dasha is a diminutive form of the Russian name Daria, which is derived from the Persian name Dārā, meaning "wealthy" or "prosperous." It has its origins in ancient Persia, where it was a popular name among the royalty and nobility.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dasha can be found in the Russian chronicles of the 12th century. During this time, it was a common name among the Russian aristocracy and was often given to daughters of noble families.
In the 16th century, the name Dasha gained popularity among the common people of Russia as well. It was particularly favored in rural areas and was often associated with a strong, resilient, and hardworking woman.
While the name Dasha has ancient roots, it has been carried on by several notable figures throughout history. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Dasha Sevastopolskaya (1836-1892), a Russian noblewoman and philanthropist who was renowned for her charitable work during the Crimean War.
Another notable Dasha was Dasha Zhitova (1887-1976), a Russian ballerina and choreographer who was celebrated for her performances with the Bolshoi Ballet in the early 20th century.
In the world of literature, Dasha Blinova (1905-1989) was a prominent Russian poet and writer who was part of the avant-garde literary movement in the Soviet Union.
More recently, Dasha Zhukova (born 1981) is a Russian-American businesswoman, art collector, and founder of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow.
Dasha Kapustina (born 1991) is a Russian professional tennis player who has achieved notable success on the WTA Tour, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 20 in the world.
While the name Dasha has its roots in ancient Persia and has been popular in Russia for centuries, it has also gained international recognition and is now used in various cultures around the world.
People
Dasha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dasha 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
Dasha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dasha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,945 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dasha 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 86,883 US residents.
Is Dasha a common name?
We classify Dasha as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,045 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dasha most popular?
The single biggest year for Dasha was 1995, when 135 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dasha is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dasha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,519 people with the name Dasha, or 1.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,022 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 Dasha 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 Dasha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dasha leans strongly female. 3,474 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 45 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Dasha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dasha is Black at 36.0%. The next largest groups are White (35.2%) and Hispanic (21.2%). 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 Dasha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dasha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.0% (1,267 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 Dasha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dasha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dasha in the SSA data are female. 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 Dasha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dasha 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 Dasha 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 Dasha as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Dasha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.