Dortha
A feminine name of unknown origin, potentially derived from Dorothy.
Name Census estimates that about 966 living Americans carry the first name Dortha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dortha today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dortha births was 1921 (295 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dortha. 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 Dortha is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Dorthas were born before 1957.
People living today
966
~ 1 in 354,818 Americans
Peak year
1921
295 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1984 SSA rank
#10,863
Tracked since 1889
Census
Dortha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,577 people with the first name Dortha, which placed it at #8,997 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
#8,997
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dortha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dortha is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Dortha 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 Dortha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 1,245
- Black or African American16.2% · 255
- Two or more races2.7% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 3
Popularity
Dortha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dortha from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,500 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dortha 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 Dortha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dorthas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Dortha, while Utah, Louisiana, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 205 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dortha
The name Dortha is thought to have its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically deriving from the Old High German word "dori" meaning "precious" or "valuable." It is also believed to be related to the Old Norse name "Dora," which has similar meanings of "gift" or "valuableness."
Dortha was a name particularly popular during the Middle Ages across various regions of Europe, including Germany, England, and Scandinavia. It was often used as a feminine form of the masculine name "Theodoric" or "Theodor," which also had Germanic roots and meant "ruler of the people."
In terms of historical references, the name Dortha is mentioned in various medieval records and documents, although its usage was not as widespread as some other names of the time. One notable example is Dortha of Montau, a 13th-century German noblewoman and landowner who was involved in disputes over land rights and inheritances.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Dortha can be traced back to the 9th century, with records indicating its use in various parts of Europe during this period. However, it is worth noting that due to variations in spelling and record-keeping practices, some instances of the name may have been lost or recorded differently.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Dortha, including:
1. Dortha von Gemmingen (1422-1495), a German abbess and noblewoman who served as the abbess of the Frauenalb Abbey in Baden-Württemberg.
2. Dortha Skåvank (c. 1490-1537), a Norwegian noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the Reformation movement in Norway.
3. Dortha von Sachsen-Lauenburg (1599-1660), a German princess and duchess consort of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.
4. Dortha Maria von Pfalz-Neuburg (1639-1693), a German princess and countess palatine of Neuburg, known for her patronage of the arts and sciences.
5. Dortha Engelbrechtsdatter (c. 1634-1713), a Norwegian landowner and one of the wealthiest women in Norway during her lifetime.
While the name Dortha has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains an interesting part of the historical record, reflecting the cultural and linguistic influences of various Germanic regions throughout the centuries.
People
Dortha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dortha 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
Dortha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dortha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 966 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dortha 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 354,818 US residents.
Is Dortha a common name?
We classify Dortha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,811 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dortha most popular?
The single biggest year for Dortha was 1921, when 295 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dortha is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dortha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,577 people with the name Dortha, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,997 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 Dortha 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 Dortha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dortha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,580 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Dortha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dortha is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Dortha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dortha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (1,245 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 Dortha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dortha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dortha 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 Dortha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dortha 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 Dortha 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 Dortha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.