Given name & surname
Dean
“from the valley; a church official”
Dean is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the valley; a church official.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the valley; a church official.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
It entered given-name use through an existing surname.
The story
Its naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Dean through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 195,844
- 192,930 boys · 2,914 girls
- Most popular year
- 1961
- 4,967 babies
- 2025
- 2,882
- #125 for boys · #13,626 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +15%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 2,876 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 125 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 15.3% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 4,933 in 1961. It also appeared in 6 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (315). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 132,116 as a first name in 2020; 109,762 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dean’s family of names
In English usage, Dean has a diminutive in Deano. Dean has a feminine form in Deanna. Dean has a related form in Dane.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 17
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Dean
- Dean MartinAmerican singer, actor, comedian and film producer (1917–1995)
- Dean AchesonAmerican statesman and lawyer (1893-1971)
- Dean KoontzAmerican writer and screenwriter (born 1945)
- Dean HendersonEnglish association football player (born 1997)
- Dean JaggerAmerican actor (1903-1991)
- Dean BarrowPrime Minister of Belize from 2008 to 2020born 1951
- Dean HuijsenDutch association football playerborn 2005
- Dean RuskUnited States Secretary of State (1909-1994)
- Dean CainAmerican actor (born 1966)
Characters named Dean: Dean Winchester (the TV series Supernatural).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Dean, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Darwin
“a beloved friend”
99% boys · 1% girls
Dan
“he judged”
97% boys · 3% girls
Darren
“a great man” · “a gift from God”
>99% boys
Kelvin
“a friend of ships; a man of the river”
>99% boys
Dale
“from the small valley” · “from the valley”
97% boys · 3% girls
Darvin
“a beloved friend”
>99% boys
Nelson
“the son of Neil; the son of a champion”
99% boys · 1% girls
Derwin
“a friend of the deer; a gifted friend”
>99% boys