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Dean

boy name
Origin
English
Syllables
1
Peak era
2010s/2020s
Today
▲ Rising

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Meaning

surname/title, "valley" or church official

The story

Dean started out as a surname, given in the Middle Ages either to someone who lived in a valley, an Old English dene, or to someone who served the church as a dean. As a first name it idled along modestly until the middle of the twentieth century, when it picked up real momentum: James Dean died young in 1955 and became a permanent symbol of cool, and Dean Martin was crooning to the whole country in the same years, so the rise on the chart through the 1950s and 60s is not hard to explain, even if no one can prove the cause. The surprise is what came next. After decades of steady, unremarkable use, Dean has climbed again, and the 2010s and 2020s are the strongest the name has ever looked in American records. Not bad for a name that means a valley.

More names with stories →

How popular is Dean around the world?

In the United States, 14,526 babies were named Dean between 2020 and 2025.

Dean is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, Austria, Ireland, England and Wales, Scotland, France, Chile, Mexico City, Poland, Argentina, Brazil and Spain.

United States

1 in 1,500

In the United States, 14,526 babies were named Dean between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2010s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dean peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

South Australia

1 in 3,100 · 2017

In South Australia, 6 boys were registered as Dean in 2017.

peak 19452017

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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Canada

1 in 3,100

In Canada, 117 boys named Dean were born in 2024, the 281st most common name among boys that year.

peak 19922024

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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Austria

1 in 5,400

In Austria, 14 boys named Dean were born in 2025, the 374th most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.

1984peak 2015

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

See the full list for Austria →

Ireland

1 in 6,800

In Ireland, 8 boys named Dean were born in 2025, the 432nd most common name among boys that year.

1964peak 19932025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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England and Wales

1 in 14,000

In England and Wales, 42 boys named Dean were born in 2025, the 782nd most common name among boys that year.

peak 19962025

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

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Scotland

1 in 15,000

In Scotland, 3 boys named Dean were registered in 2024, the 727th most common name among boys that year.

1974peak 19942024

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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France

1 in 18,000

In France, about 35 boys named Dean were born in 2025, ranked 1,045th among boys that year.

1950peak 2021

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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Chile

1 in 89,000

In Chile, 2 boys were registered as Dean in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

1940peak 2019

share of that year’s name registrations

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

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Mexico City City

1 in 120,000

In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Dean in 2022.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

See the full list for Mexico City →

Poland

1 in 120,000

In Poland, 2 boys named Dean were born in 2025, the 705th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

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Argentina

1 in 130,000

In Argentina, 5 newborns were given the name Dean in 2024.

2012peak 20202024

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Brazil

1 in 170,000

At the 2022 census, 1,202 people in Brazil were named Dean, ranked 7,298th, with a median age of 28.
Among people named Dean living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.

1960speak 1990s2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 87 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Spain

1 in 280,000

In Spain, 161 residents are named Dean, ranked 5,534th among men, with a mean age of 35 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Montevideo City

last on record 1999

Dean is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

New South Wales

outside the top 100

Dean is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.

peak 19682025

share of that year’s top-100 registrations

New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names

See the full list for New South Wales →

New Zealand

last on record 2024

Dean is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.

1940peak 19672025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

See the full list for New Zealand →

Puerto Rico

last on record 2014

Dean is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 32 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)

See the full list for Puerto Rico →

Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

Names that fit alongside Dean

Clayton Harrison Preston Spencer Franklin Marshall

Keep exploring

Names like Dean · Names that go with Dean · Middle names for Dean · Short names · Nickname-proof names

The Dean deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dean 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 Dean fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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