Boy · Welsh surname
Dewey
Say it: DOO-ee
Meaning
From a surname of Welsh origin (Dewi, David); as a first name popularised by Admiral George Dewey after 1898.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
A surge of American boys were named Dewey after the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1890s
In the United States
- 34,780 babies given this name since 1887
- At its height in 1898, about 1 in 110 boys
- 30 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.