Doretha
A feminine English variant of Dorothy, derived from Ancient Greek for "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 3,720 living Americans carry the first name Doretha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Doretha today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Doretha births was 1956 (198 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Doretha. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Doretha is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Dorethas were born before 1967.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 92,138 Americans
Peak year
1956
198 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1998 SSA rank
#14,823
Tracked since 1896
Census
Doretha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,930 people with the first name Doretha, which placed it at #4,658 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
#4,658
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,930 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Doretha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Doretha is Black at 86.3%. The next largest groups are White (10.0%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Doretha 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 Doretha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.3% · 3,393
- White10.0% · 394
- Two or more races2.2% · 88
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 7
Popularity
Doretha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Doretha from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,833 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Doretha 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 Doretha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dorethas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia recorded the most babies named Doretha, while Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 260 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Doretha
The name Doretha is a feminine given name with roots tracing back to ancient Greece. It is derived from the Greek word "dorea," meaning "gift," and the suffix "-tha," indicating a feminine form. The name can be interpreted as "a gift" or "the gifted one."
In ancient Greek mythology, Doretha was the name of a nymph associated with nature and fertility. She was believed to be a companion to the goddess Artemis, the protector of young girls and childbirth. This connection to the divine realm might have contributed to the name's early popularity among Greek families.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Doretha can be found in ancient Greek texts and inscriptions dating back to the 5th century BCE. One notable historical figure bearing this name was Doretha of Corinth, a renowned poet and philosopher who lived in the 4th century BCE. Her works, though largely lost to time, were celebrated for their depth and eloquence.
During the Byzantine era, the name Doretha gained popularity among Christian families in the Eastern Roman Empire. It was associated with the virtues of grace and generosity, reflecting the name's meaning as "a gift." In the 6th century CE, Saint Doretha, a nun renowned for her charitable works, became a revered figure in the Orthodox Christian tradition.
In the Middle Ages, the name Doretha spread across Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and language. One notable bearer of the name was Doretha of Arles, a 12th-century Countess of Provence, who played a significant role in the political and cultural affairs of her time.
Throughout history, several other notable figures have borne the name Doretha. Doretha von Sachsen-Lauenburg (1554-1586) was a German princess and abbess who made significant contributions to the religious and intellectual life of her era. Doretha Muir (1829-1923) was a Scottish-American naturalist and writer, known for her pioneering work in the field of environmental conservation.
In the 20th century, Doretha Benton Frank (1951-2019) was an American novelist and author, renowned for her captivating stories set in the Southern United States. Doretha Caldwell (1922-2001) was an influential American jazz singer and actress, whose rich vocals and stage presence earned her critical acclaim.
While the name Doretha has seen ebbs and flows in popularity over the centuries, its rich history and diverse cultural influences have made it a notable addition to the tapestry of given names worldwide.
People
Doretha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Doretha 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
Doretha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Doretha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,720 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Doretha 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 92,138 US residents.
Is Doretha a common name?
We classify Doretha as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,562 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Doretha most popular?
The single biggest year for Doretha was 1956, when 198 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Doretha is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Doretha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,930 people with the name Doretha, or 1.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,658 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 Doretha 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 Doretha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Doretha appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,935 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Doretha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Doretha is Black at 86.3%. The next largest groups are White (10.0%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Doretha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Doretha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.3% (3,393 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 Doretha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Doretha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Doretha 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 Doretha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Doretha 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 Doretha 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 share the name Doretha?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Doretha, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.