Given name & surname
Dude
“a cowboy”
Dude is used as a given name and a surname. One American interpretation is “a cowboy.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One American interpretation is “a cowboy.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is American.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Dude through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 45
- 45 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 8 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1970. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 8 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 741 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.
Dude’s family of names
In German usage, Dude as a surname has a related form in DUDA.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Dude, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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