Dorian
Meaning
referring to the Dorians, an ancient Greek people; popularized by Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'
The story
Dorian was invented by literature and has spent a century outrunning its own cautionary tale. Oscar Wilde used it first for The Picture of Dorian Gray, the story of a man whose portrait ages while he stays young, published in full in 1891; the reference books suggest Wilde may have borrowed it from the Dorians, the ancient Greek tribe. The American register was undeterred by the plot: the boys' column climbs from 308 in the 1940s to 2,114 in the 1970s, 3,862 in the 1990s and 5,893 in the 2000s, with 3,161 so far this decade. A quieter girls' column ran alongside for decades, 902 in the 1980s. Brazil's 2022 census counts 1,008 residents, median age 44. The name offers what the portrait promised: it does not seem to age, sitting as comfortably next to Julian and Adrian now as it did a lifetime ago.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dorian peaked in the 1990s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,008 people · the #8,243 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 200,000 · median age 44
Among people named Dorian living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Dorian
Most people given the name Dorian in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Dorian deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dorian 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 Dorian fits with your family’s names and surname.
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