Dawn
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Dawn
Associated with the first light of the day, and more figuratively with new beginnings and fresh starts, Dawn's heyday came in the 1960s and 70s in the US, Canada and the UK. It had been in the charts since around the end of the First World War but really began to take off in the 1950s.
Dawn for girls#2174 US
Derived from the Old English dagung, the name peaked at peaked in 1971 in the US, when it was given to more than 14,000 girls and sat within the Top 20. Shortly after, however, it began to decline and has since been eclipsed by other names with the same meaning, such as Aurora or Roxana, or by options with similar sentiments, like Nova or Alba.
Given to 108 girls in a recent year, Dawn hasn't faded entirely from sight, and if you put aside its dated image, it could one day be a meaningful word name again.
Dawn for boys
While Dawn feels dated for girls having had its heyday back in the seventies, could this word name make a fresh and unexpected option for boys, as a spin on the likes of Dan, Don, Shawn, Dean, and John?
Some parents certainly through so in 2024, when the name reappeared in the stats for boys for the first time in thirty years. Given to six boys compared to 108 girls, five percent of all Dawns born were boys.
Dawn for boys isn't an entirely novel concept, as implied above, and it has been occasionally given since the 1920s. During 60s and 70s, there were even two occasions when more than 50 boys received the name, however, due to just how popular it was for girls at the time, boys made up less than 1% of all Dawns born in the US.
With its nature related meaning and its associations with new beginnings and fresh starts, Dawn does hold some appeal. Time will tell if it catches on as a gender neutral word option.
Pronounced DAWN.
As of October 2026, Dawn ranked #2174 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #14 in 1971, Nameberry popularity #419.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,073 | 94 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #1,999 | 99 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #2,252 | 85 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #1,944 | 103 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #1,969 | 100 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #2,159 | 86 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #2,174 | 83 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #2,010 | 96 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #1,964 | 100 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #2,338 | 78 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #1,850 | 108 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #2,174 | 85 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Dawn for girls
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Dawn.
Dawn on lists
Famous Dawns
- Dawn Michelle StaleyGirl
American basketball player and coach
- Dawn Elberta WellsGirl
American actress
- Dawn BurrellGirl
American Olympic long jumper
- Dawn Roma FrenchGirl
English actress, writer, and comedienne
- Dawn O'PorterGirl
British television presenter and writer
- Dawn Evelyeen ParisGirl
birth name of Anne Shirley, American actress
- Dawn LynGirl
American actress
- Dawn FraserGirl
Australian Olympic swimmer
- Dawn Joanne LangstrothGirl
Canadian singer,songwriter
- Dawn UpshawGirl
American soprano
- Dawn Alice LakeGirl
Australian actress/comedienne
- Dawn Marie (Psaltis)Girl
American pro wrestler
- Dawn Alexis ButhGirl
American tennis player
- Dawn PennGirl
Jamaican reggae singer
- Dawn PowellGirl
American novelist
- Dawn PrimaroloGirl
English MP
- Dawn Petula ButlerGirl
English MP
- Dawn Angeliqué RichardGirl
American singer of group Danity Kane
- Dawn Sherrese RobinsonGirl
American singer of group En Vogue
- Dawn SilvaGirl
American funk singer
- Dawn Leslie SteelGirl
American film producer; first woman to head a major studio
- Dawn Therese BrancheauGirl
American animal trainer who was killed by an orca at SeaWorld
- Carolyn Dawn JohnsonGirl
Canadian country music singer
- E’DawnGirl
stage name of Kim Hyojong; rapper, dancer, and member of the South Korean boy band Pentagon
Dawn in pop culture
- Dawn BucketsGirl
teenaged character in Disney XD's "Kirby Buckets"
- Dawn HarperGirl
10,year,old character on TV's "Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn"
- Dawn SummersGirl
character on UPN's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
- Dawn Roxanna SwannGirl
character on British soap "EastEnders"
- Dawn WoodsGirl
character on British soap "Emmerdale"
- Dawn LongchampGirl
main character in V.C. Andrews' "Dawn"
- DawnGirl
a main character in video games Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
- Prairie DawnGirl
character on TV's "Sesame Street"
- Dawn Read SchaferGirl
character in "The Babysitters Club" series and its spin,off "California Diaries"
- DawnGirl
character in comic books by Joseph Michael Linsner
- "Horizon Zero Dawn"Girl
video game
- "Alien DawnGirl
" an American,Canadian science fiction/comedy television series which aired on Nicktoons
- "Dawn (Go Away)Girl
" song by The Four Seasons
- Tony Orlando and DawnGirl
American pop group
- "Dawn of the DeadGirl
" movie
- "Breaking DawnGirl
" installment in the "Twilight" series
- DawnGirl
character in the musical "Waitress"
- Dawn BellwetherGirl
Assistant Mayor sheep in Disney's "Zootopia"
- DawnGirl
character in the 2019 film "Hustlers"
- "Until Dawn"Girl
2015 video game and 2025 film
- Dawn RodgersGirl
character from R.L. Stine's "Fear Street: The Prom Queen"