Dean

What Dean means

Means “valley”

The surname or given name is of multiple origins, depending on context: As an English surname, from Middle English dene (“valley”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Dean” (revision 94538712), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Dean?

US: Rising: up from #204 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #423 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1961, when 4,933 boys got the name (#84 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 594 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 6,475 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,274 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 SD (6.51 per 1,000 boys), NH (4.44 per 1,000 boys), MT (4.25 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Dean is #125 in the US and #782 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.8% of US babies named Dean 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

• Dion155 US · 68 E&W
• Deon133 US · 18 E&W
• Deion93 US
• Denny24 US · 51 E&W
• Duane51 US
• Dany36 US
• Dani25 US · 7 E&W
• Dana25 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 Dean

Boys

• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Graham#120“gravel + homestead”^*
• Macklin#998Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #998 vs #5,137 in 2025
• Elliott#160“my God is Yahweh”^*
• Clark#377“clergyman; learned man”^*
• Royce#499Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #499 vs #1,307 in 2025

For a sister

• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Blake#295“black”^*
• Everleigh#194“wild boar + woodland clearing”^*
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Collins#241“descendant of Coileán”^*
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*

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 Dean’s. Rank is US 2025.