Dorrell
Derived from an English surname, a variant form of the name Darel.
Name Census estimates that about 310 living Americans carry the first name Dorrell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dorrell today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dorrell births was 1986 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dorrell. 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 Dorrell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
310
~ 1 in 1,105,659 Americans
Peak year
1986
21 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2018 SSA rank
#9,947
Tracked since 1915
Census
Dorrell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 402 people with the first name Dorrell, which placed it at #24,093 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
#24,093
National first-name rank
People counted
402
402 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dorrell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dorrell is Black at 74.4%. The next largest groups are White (16.4%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Dorrell 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 Dorrell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.4% · 299
- White16.4% · 66
- Two or more races5.0% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Popularity
Dorrell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dorrell from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 112 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Dorrell remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dorrell 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 Dorrell 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 Dorrell
The name Dorrell is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with roots tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century. It is thought to be a variant or diminutive form of the name Dorian, which itself is derived from the Latin name Dorius, meaning "of the Dorian people."
The Dorians were one of the major ethnic groups of ancient Greece, known for their contributions to architecture, literature, and the establishment of several city-states, including Sparta. The name Dorius was likely adopted by the Romans from the Greek word "Dōrios," referring to the Dorian tribe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dorrell can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of land ownership and taxation in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this historical document, the name appears as "Dorrel," likely referring to an individual of Anglo-Saxon or Norman descent.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Dorrell. One such figure was Dorrell Wright (1874-1944), an American educator and administrator who served as the 10th president of Wilberforce University, one of the oldest private historically black universities in the United States.
Another prominent Dorrell was Sir Dorrell Handfield (1829-1892), a British architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal Albert Hall.
In the world of sports, Dorrell Wright (born 1986) is a former professional basketball player who played in the NBA for several teams, including the Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Sir Dorrell Barnes (1914-1997) was a British diplomat and civil servant who served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1967 to 1973, playing a crucial role in the country's transition to independence.
Finally, Dorrell McGowan (1932-2014) was a Canadian educator and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Windsor-Walkerville from 1975 to 1987.
While the name Dorrell may not be as common today as it once was, its historical significance and enduring presence in various fields serve as a testament to its rich heritage and enduring legacy.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Dorrell
People
Dorrell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dorrell 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
Dorrell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dorrell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 310 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dorrell 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 1,105,659 US residents.
Is Dorrell a common name?
We classify Dorrell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 370 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dorrell most popular?
The single biggest year for Dorrell was 1986, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dorrell is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dorrell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 402 people with the name Dorrell, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,093 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 Dorrell 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 Dorrell?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dorrell on both sides of the split. Of the 400 people counted with this name, 304 were male (76.0%) and 96 were female (24.0%). 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 Dorrell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dorrell is Black at 74.4%. The next largest groups are White (16.4%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Dorrell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dorrell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.4% (299 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 Dorrell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dorrell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dorrell 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 Dorrell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dorrell 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 Dorrell 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 Dorrell?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.