Dorrien
A masculine name derived from the Gaelic name Doireann meaning storm or turbulent.
Name Census estimates that about 105 living Americans carry the first name Dorrien. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dorrien today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dorrien births was 2001 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dorrien. 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
105
~ 1 in 3,264,327 Americans
Peak year
2001
17 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2016 SSA rank
#12,713
Tracked since 1992
Census
Dorrien in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 133 people with the first name Dorrien, which placed it at #48,223 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
#48,223
National first-name rank
People counted
133
133 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
72.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dorrien
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dorrien is Black at 72.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.5%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Dorrien 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 Dorrien at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American72.2% · 96
- White16.5% · 22
- Two or more races6.0% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Popularity
Dorrien: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dorrien from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 77 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dorrien remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dorrien 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 Dorrien 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 Dorrien
The name Dorrien has its origins in the French language, tracing back to the medieval era. It is a variant spelling of the name Dorian, which was derived from the Latin name Dorianus. The name Dorianus is believed to have been formed from the Greek word "doron," meaning "gift."
In ancient Greek mythology, Dorian was the name of one of the three main ancient Greek tribes, along with the Ionians and the Aeolians. The Dorians were known for their simplicity and austerity, and their name became associated with these qualities.
The earliest recorded use of the name Dorrien can be found in historical records from the 12th century, particularly in regions of France and England. One notable bearer of the name was Sir Dorrien Longville, a French knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War during the 14th century.
Another significant figure named Dorrien was Sir John Dorrien (1597-1667), an English soldier and politician who served as a Member of Parliament and fought in the English Civil War. He played a key role in the Siege of Colchester in 1648.
In the 18th century, Sir Horace Dorrien (1770-1858) was a British Army officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and later became a Lieutenant-General. He was also a Member of Parliament for the constituencies of Brackley and Northamptonshire.
Moving into the 19th century, Sir Willoughby Dorrien (1828-1908) was a British Army officer who served in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and later became a Lieutenant-General. He was also a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military honor awarded for valor in the British Armed Forces.
In the early 20th century, Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien (1858-1935) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and later became a General during World War I. He is particularly known for his role in the Battle of Le Cateau in 1914, where he led the British Expeditionary Force in a successful retreat from the German forces.
While the name Dorrien has been predominantly used in English-speaking regions, particularly in Britain and its former colonies, its French origins and historical associations with notable figures in military and political spheres have contributed to its enduring legacy.
People
Dorrien + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dorrien 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
Dorrien: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dorrien?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dorrien 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 3,264,327 US residents.
Is Dorrien a common name?
We classify Dorrien as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dorrien most popular?
The single biggest year for Dorrien was 2001, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dorrien is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dorrien in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 133 people with the name Dorrien, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,223 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 Dorrien 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 Dorrien?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dorrien leans strongly male. 115 people counted with this name were male (84.6%), compared with 21 female bearers (15.4%). 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 Dorrien?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dorrien is Black at 72.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.5%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Dorrien most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dorrien in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.2% (96 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 Dorrien in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dorrien a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dorrien 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 Dorrien still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dorrien 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 Dorrien 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 are named Dorrien?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Dorrien at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.