Dax
Meaning
place name, the French town of Dax
The story
Dax came to given-name life through an English surname, derived either from the town of Dax in France or from the Old English name Dæcca, whose meaning is unknown, and the record wears its pop-culture moment openly: the name was brought to public attention by the main character of the 1966 novel The Adventurers and its 1970 film. The buckets agree, 52 boys in the 1960s, then 1,018 in the 1970s, a twenty-fold jump on the movie's decade. The wave receded to 411 in the 1980s, idled for two decades, and then the sound came back into style: 1,586 in the 2000s, 4,996 in the 2010s, 3,335 so far this decade. One syllable, one X, two separate careers half a century apart.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dax peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
45 people · the #71,575 first name in Brazil · median age 40
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Dax
Most people given the name Dax in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Dax deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dax truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Dax fits with your family’s names and surname.
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