Dorothy (given name)

Dorothy
Dorothy Gale is a character in L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Pronunciation/ˈdɒrəθi/
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameGreek
MeaningGift of God
Other names
Related namesTheodore, Dottie, Dotty, Theodora, Dorothea, Dolly, Dorothee, Dot, Tia

Dorothy is a feminine given name. It is the English vernacular form of the Greek Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift", from δῶρον (dōron), "gift" + θεός (theós), "god".[1][2] It has been in use since the 1400s.[3] Although much less common, there are also male equivalents in English such as Dory, from the Greek masculine Δωρόθεος (Dōrótheos). Dorofei is a rarely used Russian male version of the name.[4] The given names Theodore and Theodora are derived from the same two Greek root words as Dorothy, albeit reversed in order.

The name grew in use among Christians due to popular legends surrounding Saint Dorothy of Caeserea. The name was at one time viewed as the English equivalent of the etymologically unrelated Russian name Daria or its diminutive Dasha.[5]

Traditional English diminutives include, among others, Do, Dodi, Dodie, Doe, Doll, Dolley, Dollie, Dolly, Dora, Dori, Dorie, Doro, Dory, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Tea, Thea, and Tia. Dorothy, with the nickname Doll or Dolly, was quite popular from 1450 to 1570 in England. Dorothy or the variant Dorothea, also with the nicknames Doll or Dolly, was also well used between 1750 and 1820.[6]

There are also many variants of the name in other languages.

Dorothy was a less common variant of Dorothea until it became more common and one of the top 10 most popular names for girls in the United States between 1904 and 1940. The name remained among the top 100 most popular names for American girls until 1961. It briefly left the top 1,000 names for girls in the United States in 2007 but returned in 2011 and has since increased in popularity. In 2022, it ranked 487th among the most used names for newborn girls in the United States, with 642 girls given the name in that year. Variant Dorothea is in occasional use in the United States, where 62 girls were given the name in 2022.[7]

  1. ^ θεός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  2. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
  3. ^ δῶρον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  4. ^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Dorofei". Behindthename.com.
  5. ^ Charlotte Mary Yonge (1863). History of Christian Names. Vol. 1. Parker, Son, and Bourn. p. 17.
  6. ^ "Full text of "Curiosities of Puritan nomenclature"". Archive.org. 1880. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Popular Baby Names". Ssa.gov. Retrieved 8 January 2024.