Dov
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "bear".
Name Census estimates that about 3,392 living Americans carry the first name Dov. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dov today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dov births was 2022 (160 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dov. 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 Dov with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 101,048 Americans
Peak year
2022
160 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,403
Tracked since 1949
Census
Dov in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,562 people with the first name Dov, which placed it at #6,298 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
#6,298
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,562 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dov
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dov is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Dov 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 Dov at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 2,469
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 42
- Two or more races1.0% · 25
- Black or African American0.6% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Popularity
Dov: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dov from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,079 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dov remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dov 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 Dov during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dovs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Dov, while Illinois, Maryland, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 471 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dov
The name Dov has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew word "dov," which means "bear." This name has been in use since ancient times in the Middle East and among Jewish communities around the world.
In the Bible, the name Dov is not explicitly mentioned, but the Hebrew word for bear appears in various contexts. For example, in the Book of Proverbs, it is written, "Meet a bear robbed of her cubs" (Proverbs 17:12), using the word "dov" for bear.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dov was Dov Baer of Mezeritch, a prominent 18th-century Hasidic rabbi and a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement. He lived from 1704 to 1772 and played a crucial role in spreading the teachings of Hasidism.
Another notable figure was Dov Ber Manischewitz, the founder of the Manischewitz food company, which is famous for producing kosher foods, particularly matzo and wine. He was born in 1856 in Prussia and immigrated to the United States in the late 19th century, establishing his business in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In the world of literature, Dov Noy was an Israeli author and scholar known for his work on Jewish folklore and folktales. He was born in 1920 in Jerusalem and published several books on the subject, including "Folktales of the Jews" and "The Jewish Beast Fable Tradition."
Dov Gruner was an Israeli painter and sculptor who lived from 1936 to 2021. He was known for his colorful abstract works and was a prominent figure in the Israeli art scene. His sculptures and paintings can be found in various museums and public spaces in Israel.
Finally, Dov Frohman was an Israeli electrical engineer and entrepreneur who played a significant role in the development of the modern computer memory chip. He was born in 1939 and co-founded several successful technology companies, including Intel, where he worked on the development of the first commercially viable random access memory (RAM) chip.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Dov, which has its roots in the ancient Hebrew language and culture, with a meaning connected to the powerful symbol of the bear.
People
Dov + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dov 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
Dov: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dov?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,392 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dov 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 101,048 US residents.
Is Dov a common name?
We classify Dov as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,494 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dov most popular?
The single biggest year for Dov was 2022, when 160 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dov is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dov in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,562 people with the name Dov, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,298 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 Dov 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 Dov?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dov appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,560 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Dov?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dov is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Dov most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dov in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (2,469 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 Dov in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dov a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dov 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 Dov still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dov 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 Dov 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 called Dov?
You can see how many people have the name Dov on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.