Dawson

What Dawson means

Short form of David, meaning “beloved”

pet form of David || From Middle English David, Davyd, Davyde, from Old English Dauid, David, from Late Latin Dāvīd, from Koine Greek Δαυῑ̈́δ (Dauī̈́d), from Biblical Hebrew דָּוִד (dāwiḏ, literally “beloved”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Dawson” (revision 94538699) and “David” (revision 94538720), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Dawson?

US: Rising: up from #238 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #470 in 2015, #478 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 2,587 boys got the name (#139 that year). First in the US records in 1885.

How common

• About 1 in 687 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,357 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,155 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (6.16 per 1,000 boys), WV (6.01 per 1,000 boys), ID (4.63 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Dawson is #143 in the US and #478 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.8% of US babies named Dawson were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Tayson35 US
• Dayson24 US
• Dawsyn20 US
• Dyson19 US
• Dawsen17 US
• Taison11 US
• Daysen10 US
• Dasan9 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Dawson

Boys

• Cade#248“lump, swelling”^*
• Reece#460Editor’s note Used for both: 77% of US babies named Reece in 2025 were boys
• Finnegan#526“descendant of Fionnagán”^*
• Carson#124“rock”^*
• Reese#602“ardor”^*
• Campbell#763“crooked + mouth”^*

For a sister

• Tatum#189Editor’s note Used for both: 49% of US babies named Tatum in 2025 were girls
• Camryn#476Variant of Cameron, meaning “crooked, bent + nose”^*
• Kamryn#556Variant of Cameron, meaning “crooked, bent + nose”^*
• Riley#48“rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Rylee#137Variant of Riley, meaning “rye + clearing, meadow”^*
• Emerson#122Editor’s note Used for both: 62% of US babies named Emerson in 2025 were girls

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Dawson’s. Rank is US 2025.