Dawson
Dawson is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
Meaning & Origin of Dawson
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Dawson is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Dawson
Dawson first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1885, with 5 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1999, when 2,802 Dawsons were born — ranking #136 that year. As of 2026, Dawson ranks #130 for baby boys with 2,713 births, rising sharply (+26% over the past five years). In total, more than 56K Dawsons have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Notable people named Dawson
A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia.
- Dawson Bates (1876–1949), Northern Irish politician
- Dawson Buckley (1917–1993), Australian rugby league player
- Dawson Burns (1828–1909), English minister and temperance activist
- Dawson Charlie ( c. 1865 –1908), Canadian First Nation person and gold discoverer
- Dawson Cram (born 2001), American stock car racing driver
- Dawson Dawson-Walker (1868–1934), British clergyman, classicist, theologian, and academic
- Dawson Dawson-Watson (1864–1939), British painter
- Dawson Deaton (born 1999), American football player
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Names that sound like Dawson
Phonetically similar names — useful when Dawson is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Dawson
What does the name Dawson mean?
How popular is Dawson in 2026?
When was Dawson most popular?
In which U.S. states is Dawson most popular?
Is Dawson a unisex name?
What names go well with Dawson?
About the name Dawson
Dawson is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1885 and has accumulated 56K births in the dataset. Dawson's peak popularity came in 1999 when it ranked #130. Use the chart and map above to compare Dawson's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1999 →
- Names of the 1990s →
- Names starting with "D" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.