Dolores
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Meaning
sorrows (a Marian title; a classic elder-generation Filipino name)
Goes by Lola, Loli. See all nicknames
Famously borne by Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers.
The story
Dolores is Spanish, from María de los Dolores, Mary of the Sorrows, one of the great Marian titles turned into a given name; it is also a classic elder-generation Filipino name, carried across the Pacific with Spanish Catholicism. The US curve rises through the 1910s to a broad peak in the 1920s and 1930s, Hollywood's Dolores del Río era, then descends slowly into a persistent presence that never actually disappears. The name's secret weapon is Lola, the sparkling pet form famous on its own from novels to song titles, with Loli as the softer Spanish alternative. Sorrows in the dictionary, but nobody named Lola has ever seemed sorry about it. That contrast between solemn formal name and bright nickname has always been part of its appeal.
How popular is Dolores around the world?
In the United States, 375 babies were named Dolores between 2020 and 2025. In Spain, 159,919 residents are named Dolores, the 23rd most common name among women, with a mean age of 70.1 years.
Dolores is on the official records of the United States, Spain, Montevideo, Mexico City, Brazil, Argentina, England and Wales, France, Canada and Austria.
United States
1 in 58,000
In the United States, 375 babies were named Dolores between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dolores peaked in the 1920s and the 1930s in nearly equal measure. Dolores went to 77,596 US babies in the 1930s, its high point before 1940, and to 776 across the 2010s and 2020s together.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Spain
1 in 280
In Spain, 159,919 residents are named Dolores, the 23rd most common name among women, with a mean age of 70.1 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
Montevideo City
1 in 12,0002011
In Montevideo, 2 girls named Dolores were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
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
Mexico City City
1 in 13,000
In Mexico City, there were 9 registrations of Dolores in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
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
Brazil
1 in 15,000
At the 2022 census, 13,717 people in Brazil were named Dolores, ranked 1,367th, with a median age of 66.
Among people named Dolores living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1950s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
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
Argentina
1 in 25,000
In Argentina, 27 newborns were given the name Dolores in 2024.
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
England and Wales
1 in 42,000
In England and Wales, 14 girls named Dolores were born in 2025, ranked 2,006th among girls that year.
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
France
1 in 43,000
In France, about 15 girls named Dolores were born in 2025, ranked 1,982nd among girls that year.
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. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Dolores, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Canada
1 in 61,000
In Canada, 6 girls named Dolores were born in 2024, ranked 3,027th among girls that year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Dolores was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
Chile
last on record 2018
Dolores is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
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
Ireland
last on record 2017
Dolores is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
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
Poland
last on record 2013
Dolores is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
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)
South Australia
last on record 1989
Dolores is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Dolores
People given the name Dolores in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1930 to 1969. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Dolores travels
Mexican American · sorrows (from Maria de los Dolores, Our Lady of Sorrows); common among earlier generations, now a vintage heirloom name
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Dolores · Spanish baby names · Filipino American baby names · Mexican American baby names · The hundred-year rule
The Dolores deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dolores 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 Dolores fits with your family’s names and surname.
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