Dominica
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "belonging to the Lord".
Name Census estimates that about 1,730 living Americans carry the first name Dominica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dominica today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dominica births was 1979 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dominica. 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 Dominica with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 198,124 Americans
Peak year
1979
56 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,465
Tracked since 1909
Census
Dominica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,185 people with the first name Dominica, which placed it at #7,087 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
#7,087
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,185 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dominica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dominica is White at 41.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Black (19.1%). 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 Dominica 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 Dominica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.4% · 905
- Hispanic or Latino28.5% · 623
- Black or African American19.1% · 417
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 139
- Two or more races3.7% · 80
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 21
Popularity
Dominica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dominica from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 451 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dominica 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 Dominica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dominicas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Dominica, while Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dominica
The name Dominica originates from the Latin word "Dominicus", meaning "belonging to the Lord" or "of the Lord". It is derived from the Latin word "Dominus", which means "lord" or "master". The name has its roots in the Christian tradition and was initially used as a feminine form of the masculine name Dominic.
The name Dominica gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly among Catholic communities. It was often given to girls born on Sundays, as Sunday was considered the "Lord's Day" in Christian tradition. The name was also associated with the Dominican Order, a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic in the 13th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dominica can be found in the life of Saint Dominica of Tropea, a 5th-century Italian nun and mystic. Another notable figure was Dominica Krzhitskaya, a 16th-century Russian noblewoman and saint in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Dominica. Dominica de Paradis (1824-1849) was a French composer and pianist who was blind from an early age but achieved recognition for her musical talents. Dominica Petruchio (c. 1455-1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter and the daughter of the renowned artist Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino.
In the literary world, Dominica Ruta (born 1963) is an American writer and memoirist known for her acclaimed works such as "With or Without You" and "Last Day". Dominica Diogo (born 1968) is a Portuguese novelist and short story writer who has received numerous literary awards in her home country.
Another notable figure is Dominica Remón (1767-1853), a Spanish painter and engraver who gained recognition for her religious and historical works. She was one of the few female artists of her time to achieve significant success and acclaim.
While the name Dominica has its roots in the Christian tradition, it has been adopted and embraced by various cultures and communities worldwide, reflecting its enduring appeal and timeless quality.
People
Dominica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dominica 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
Dominica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dominica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,730 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dominica 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 198,124 US residents.
Is Dominica a common name?
We classify Dominica as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,332 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dominica most popular?
The single biggest year for Dominica was 1979, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dominica is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dominica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,185 people with the name Dominica, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,087 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 Dominica 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 Dominica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dominica leans strongly female. 2,157 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 32 male 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 Dominica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dominica is White at 41.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Black (19.1%). 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 Dominica most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dominica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.4% (905 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 Dominica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dominica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dominica 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 Dominica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dominica 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 Dominica 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 the name Dominica?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.