The baby name Dorothy soared over the rainbow in the 1930s, retired to Miami in the 1980s, and could be headed for a twenty-first century comeback.
Thanks to Jennie for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
GIFT OF GOD
Two early saints answered to Dorothea, from the Greek doron – gift – and theos – god. Both women are considered virgin martyrs, but Dorothea of Caesarea was particularly popular in the Middle Ages. Another Dorothea, born in Prussia in the 1300s, would also be considered a saint.
A number of European queens answered to Dorothea, too.
The name spread across Europe in the Middle Ages and beyond.
As for the Dorothea-Dorothy switch, chalk it up to medieval English, when Latin names like Cecilia became Cecily and Margaret transformed to Margery.
OVER THE RAINBOW
L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in the year 1900.
The story introduced the world to Kansas farm girl Dorothy Gale.
The name was an on-trend pick – the baby name Dorothy cracked the Top 100 in 1890, and would make the Top Ten by 1904. It remained near the tippy top of the rankings until 1939.
Does Baum get credit for her rise?
Probably some. A few years earlier, a comic opera titled Dorothy had premiered in London in 1886, and toured widely in the English-speaking world.
But Baum’s book was a hit, quickly adapted for Broadway in 1902, and inspiring more than a dozen follow-up Oz novels.
Baum named his heroine after a real girl. Frank’s wife Maud was inconsolable after her niece died in infancy. The girls’ name? Dorothy. Evidence abounds that Baum freely borrowed from his own life events and acquaintances throughout the stories.
The 1939 movie adaptation starring Judy Garland as the ruby slipper-wearing adventurer remains among the most-loved movies of all time.
And we’ve never stopped visiting and re-visiting Oz, either. Wicked remains a widely beloved musical, and while it’s a prequel to the L. Frank Baum story we know and love, it helps keep Dorothy on our minds.
MORE FAMOUS DOROTHYS
The baby name Dorothy spent decades near the top of the popularity charts. That led to dozens of accomplished women, including:
- Famous writer and wit Dorothy Parker.
- Social activist Dorothy Day.
- Actors Dorothy Dandridge and Dorothy Lamour.
Figure skater Dorothy Hamill brought home Olympic gold at the 1976 games. She inspired a popular haircut, but couldn’t save her name from tumbling out of favor.
GOLDEN
For a time, Dorothy simply wasn’t a name for your daughter.
The baby name Dorothy belonged to somebody’s grandmother instead.
In 1985, we met The Golden Girls – a trio of retirees in Miami: Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy, plus Dorothy’s mother, Sophia.
The character was born around 1929 – exactly around peak Dorothy.
While The Golden Girls has been off the air for ages, it remains a cultural phenomenon.
BY THE NUMBERS
The baby name Dorothy slipped over the years, falling out of the Top 100 after 1961 and leaving the Top 1000 early in the twenty-first century.
Elmo’s pet goldfish answered to the name when the “Elmo’s World” segment debuted on Sesame Street in the late 1990s. On a similar note, The Wiggles performed with a dancing dinosaur called Dorothy.
For a brief moment, the baby name Dorothy was squarely out of favor.
COMEBACK
But it didn’t last.
By 2011, the baby name Dorothy edged back into the US Top 1000 at #929. As of 2020, it reached #534.
Credit our enduring affection for three-syllable, ends-with-y names for girls, or maybe the name’s status as a near-classic. The baby name Dorothy falls somewhere between storybook Alice and literary heroine Emma. Or maybe it’s the best of both.
And while Dorothy requires no nickname, choices like Dolly and Dot make it even more flexible.
For parents disappointed that Eleanor and Charlotte sit near the top of the popularity charts, the baby name Dorothy makes a pleasing substitute.
A vintage charmer with an adventurous spirit, Dorothy suits a daughter born today.
What do you think of the baby name Dorothy?
First published on April 10, 2014, this post was substantially revised and reposted on May 25, 2021.
My mother and mother-in-law were both named that,at its height.
I remember that a little girlmin My Three Sons was called Dodie, for her given name,Dorothy.
It sounds kind of old to me,personally,but the diminutive are cute,
I love the nickname Dot/Dottie and can see it so easily for a daughter of ours. My husband finds it too cutesy and Dorothy/Dorothea to be “frumpy”. I love Dorothea. It’s a lovely name, and I would happily use it if I could name a baby all alone! 🙂
This is the name of both my grandmothers (which shows how popular it was in their generation), and I think it’s absolutely sweet. The Wizard of Oz does add a bit of magic.
I did feel it was too old-fashioned to use, except as a middle name, but now the short form Dolly (paternal grandma’s nickname) makes it seem much more contemporary.
Thanks for featuring my suggestion. I’m trying to remember when Dorothy popped on my radar. I don’t think I considered her when our daughter was born in 2005. Perhaps it was in 2010 when we were expecting our 3rd child. I remember being surprised that she wasn’t in the top 1000 and I watched her pop back in in 2012.
That’s funny that you mention the built-in Halloween costume. I do love the idea of a little 3 or 4 year old Dorothy all dressed up like the movie character. That is sad about Baum’s wife’s niece though.
I liked the idea of using the name with the nickname Dot, as a nod to my husband and I meeting online and our song being “Dot Com” by Jethro Tull.
Strangely enough, between suggesting the name on your Facebook page and this featured post, I now know a newborn baby Dorothy “Dot” at church. The first little Dorothy I’ve spotted. She’s a sister to Lydia.
I’d totally forgotten about the British store Dorothy Perkins. I used to shop there with my Mum, as a teenager.
I’ve never watched ‘The Golden Girls’. Though if we had had girls named Rose & Dorothy it probably would have made some people think of the show. I do like “old people names”. 🙂
I love Dot as a nickname! So spunky!
I like Dorothy. Dorothy Zbornak was my favorite Golden Girl. It was also Tootie’s real name on The Facts of Life.
I think you have a typo – she left the Top 1000 for a little while early in the twenty-first, not the twentieth century. (The latter was when it was heading for the top!)