Nameling

Dawson

Gender
Boy
Say it
DAW-son
Origin
English
UK rank, 2025
#401 for boys
US rank, 2025
#143 for boys

Big in Northern Ireland

Dawson is a boys' name of English origin, meaning “son of Daw”. In 2025 it ranked 401st for boys in the UK (116 babies) and 143rd for boys in the US (2,487 babies).

What does Dawson mean?

English: English surname

“son of Daw”

An English surname meaning son of Daw, a medieval pet form of David.

Is Dawson a girl's or a boy's name?

Dawson is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 116 boys in the UK and 81 girls and 2,487 boys in the US.

How popular is Dawson in the UK?

Rank in 2025
#401among boys
Babies in 2025
116about 1 in 2,600 boys
Five-year trend
Steadyup 9% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 116 boys in the UK were named Dawson, making it the 401st most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 528th.

2025 had the most boys named Dawson of any year since it first appeared, in 1998.

Half of all the boys named Dawson in the UK since 1996 were born between 2011 and 2021, the years shaded on the chart below.

Among boys in 2025, it was 478th in England and Wales, 243rd in Scotland and 126th in Northern Ireland.

1998Busiest: 116 in 20252025
Dawson in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
2025116#401
202492#485
202383#526
202295#469
202186#518
202080#528
201999#460
201887#507
201795#481
2016103#449
2015105#441
201464#613
201371#560
201250#732
201169#564
201061#614
200945#736
200839#806
200744#710
200634#823
200526#944
200428#836
200319#1,046
200219#988
200121#871
200023#812
199917#959
19989#1,446

How popular is Dawson in the US?

Rank in 2025
#143among boys
Babies in 2025
2,487about 1 in 690 boys
Five-year trend
Risingup 26% in five years
Same name in a class
2%chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 2,487 boys in the US were named Dawson, making it the 143rd most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 197th. Its busiest year was 1999, with 2,802 boys. It first appears in the records in 1885. 81 girls were also named Dawson in 2025 (2,256th for girls).

Half of all the boys named Dawson in the US since 1880 were born between 2002 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.

1885Busiest: 2,802 in 19992025
Dawson in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
20252,487#143
20242,587#139
20232,451#149
20222,047#184
20211,832#207
20201,918#197
20191,960#202
20182,101#194
20172,018#196
20161,795#216
20151,594#238
20141,083#320
20131,036#320
20121,036#316
20111,012#315
20101,168#289
20091,154#284
20081,292#269
20071,409#250
20061,550#233
20051,600#221
20041,763#206
20031,805#204
20021,953#193
20012,030#183
20002,312#168
19992,802#136
19981,895#175
1997209#733
1996195#755
1995149#893
1994158#850
1993117#1,011
199285#1,217
199175#1,291
199065#1,378
198967#1,331
198847#1,548
198744#1,585
198628#2,055
198534#1,763
198432#1,763
198319#2,492
198231#1,814
198123#2,203
198029#1,910
197923#2,156
197818#2,472
197717#2,555
197624#1,998
197518#2,360
197436#1,439
197320#2,035
197214#2,533
197116#2,365
197025#1,742
196915#2,216
196820#1,787
196712#2,351
196616#1,962
196512#2,364
196411#2,545
196321#1,743
196219#1,851
196116#2,069
196017#1,972
195917#1,973
195821#1,723
195727#1,510
195616#2,014
195516#1,978
195423#1,592
195327#1,454
195226#1,484
195132#1,294
195028#1,363
194931#1,296
194839#1,144
194740#1,147
194622#1,508
194516#1,696
194428#1,255
194320#1,576
194221#1,537
194117#1,685
194030#1,227
193932#1,141
193813#1,976
193726#1,313
193629#1,225
193527#1,295
193416#1,783
193320#1,540
193218#1,716
193128#1,302
193022#1,559
192923#1,523
192834#1,228
192722#1,647
192627#1,404
192531#1,304
192435#1,223
192328#1,385
192235#1,222
192136#1,199
192033#1,252
191927#1,385
191828#1,342
191730#1,238
191624#1,415
191530#1,181
191424#1,188
191319#1,173
191214#1,267
191113#924
191011#980
19096#1,277
19080–
19076#1,199
19060–
19055#1,232
190410#760
19030–
19020–
19016#942
19005#1,309
18990–
18985#1,120
18970–
18960–
18950–
18940–
18930–
18920–
18917#765
18907#814
18895#973
18888#755
18878#679
18860–
18855#935

Names like Dawson

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Hudson Grayson Mason Jaxon Harrison Carter Hunter Marley Cooper Jenson Ashton Parker

Other spellings of Dawson

Dawsyn Dawsen

Names related to Dawson

Dayson Dashon Dason Daison Dayshon

More English names

Lily Evelyn Ivy Harper Grace Violet Willow Daisy Poppy Riley Oakley Ruby Hallie Hazel River Ellie

Every English name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Dawson: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/dawson, updated 20 October 2026.