Dominie
A feminine English variant of Dominic, meaning "belonging to the Lord".
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the first name Dominie. It is a predominantly male name (95.8% of registrations). The average person named Dominie today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dominie births was 1985 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dominie. 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
136
~ 1 in 2,520,252 Americans
Peak year
1985
20 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2002 SSA rank
#9,635
Tracked since 1962
Census
Dominie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 115 people with the first name Dominie, which placed it at #51,185 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
#51,185
National first-name rank
People counted
115
115 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dominie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dominie is White at 44.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.3%) and Hispanic (20.0%). 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 Dominie 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 Dominie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.3% · 51
- Black or African American24.3% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino20.0% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.8% · 9
- Two or more races3.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Dominie
Dominie leans heavily male at 95.8% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dominie as a male name
- Ranked #9,701 in 2002
- 6 male births in 2002
- Peak: 1982 (14 births)
Dominie as a female name
- Ranked #9,635 in 1985
- 6 female births in 1985
- Peak: 1985 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dominie on both sides of the split. Of the 108 people counted with this name, 31 were male (28.7%) and 77 were female (71.3%).
Popularity
Dominie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dominie from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 96 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
Dominie 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 Dominie 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 Dominie
The name Dominie has its roots in Latin, originating from the word "dominus" which means "master" or "lord." It first appeared in the Middle Ages as a title for a schoolmaster or a teacher, particularly in Scotland and parts of northern England.
In the early 16th century, the term "dominie" was widely used to refer to a respected teacher or a clergyman in Presbyterian churches. The name was closely associated with the Scottish Reformation and the spread of Protestant education in the region.
One of the earliest recorded uses of Dominie as a given name can be found in the works of Sir Walter Scott, the renowned Scottish novelist and poet. In his novel "The Antiquary," published in 1816, one of the characters is named Dominie Sampson, a naive and eccentric schoolmaster.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Dominie. One of the most famous was Dominie Everardus Bogardus (1607-1647), a Dutch Reformed minister who established the first church in what is now New York City.
Another prominent figure was Dominie Alexander Webster (1707-1784), a Scottish minister and educator who co-founded the Ranken Weavers' Society, an organization that provided education and support for Scottish weavers.
In the 19th century, Dominie Samuel Munson (1776-1853) was a Presbyterian minister and educator who served as the president of Franklin College in Ohio and contributed significantly to the advancement of education in the region.
Dominie Gottlieb Shober (1756-1838) was a Moravian minister and leader who played a crucial role in the early settlement of Salem, North Carolina, and the establishment of the Moravian Church in the United States.
Lastly, Dominie Jacob Duché (1737-1798) was an Episcopal clergyman and a prominent figure during the American Revolution. He served as the chaplain of the Continental Congress and delivered the famous prayer at the opening of the Second Continental Congress in 1775.
People
Dominie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dominie 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
Dominie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dominie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dominie 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 2,520,252 US residents.
Is Dominie a common name?
We classify Dominie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dominie most popular?
The single biggest year for Dominie was 1985, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dominie is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dominie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 115 people with the name Dominie, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,185 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 Dominie 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 Dominie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dominie on both sides of the split. Of the 108 people counted with this name, 31 were male (28.7%) and 77 were female (71.3%). 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 Dominie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dominie is White at 44.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.3%) and Hispanic (20.0%). 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 Dominie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dominie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.3% (51 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 Dominie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dominie a male name?
Yes, 95.8% of people registered as Dominie 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 Dominie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dominie 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 Dominie 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 common is the name Dominie?
Find out how many Americans are named Dominie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.