Dawson: name meaning, origin & popularity
- Meaning
- “son of Daw”
- Origin
- English
- Say it
- DAW-sən · 2 syllables
- Used for
- Boys (97% of all uses)
An English surname meaning 'son of Daw,' Daw being a medieval pet form of David. As a first name, it follows the surname-as-given-name pattern.
How popular is Dawson?
Babies named Dawson in 20242,666
2024 rank#139 boys
Peak year2024
Total US babies since 188051,610
Dawson is rising: use over the last five years is 2.3× what it was a decade earlier.
Names like Dawson
Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.
Dawson questions
What does the name Dawson mean?
Dawson means "son of Daw". It comes from English. An English surname meaning 'son of Daw,' Daw being a medieval pet form of David. As a first name, it follows the surname-as-given-name pattern.
Is Dawson a boy or girl name?
Dawson is mainly a boy's name in US records (98% of uses since 1880).
How popular is Dawson?
2,666 US babies were named Dawson in 2024. Its peak year was 2024.
How do you pronounce Dawson?
Dawson is usually pronounced DAW-sən.
Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.