Dorothy

A female given name, form of Dorothea.

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Dorothy is a female given name. It comes from Greek Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift", from δῶρον (dōron), "gift" + θεός (theós), "god". Although much less common, there are also male equivalents in English such as "Dorie" from the Greek masculine Δωρόθεος (Dōrótheos). Also, the given names Theodore and Theodora are derived from the same two Greek root words as Dorothy, albeit reversed in order. The name is variously abbreviated to "Dot", "Dotty" and "Doll".
Dorothy was a less common variant of Dorothea, until it became one of the top 10 most popular girl's names in the United States between 1904 and 1940. The name remained among the top 100 most popular names for American girls until 1961. It then declined in popularity and was last ranked among the top 1,000 most popular names for American newborn girls in 2006, when it was ranked in 986th position. There were 235 newborn American girls given the name in 2010. Just 20 American girls were given the variant name Dorothea in 2010.

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Fem. proper name, from French Dorothée, from Latin Dorothea, from Greek, literally "gift of God," from doron "gift" (from PIE root *do- "to give") + fem. of theos "god" (from PIE root *dhes-, forming words for religious concepts). With the elements reversed, it becomes Theodora. The accessory called a Dorothy bag is so called from 1907.

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Form of Dorothea: from Greek elements doron (gift) and theos (God).

Dorothea, Dottie, Theodore, Theodora, Dace, Theodor, Doreen, Dot

Popularity	Name	Birth Year	Description
1	Dorothy Vaughan	1910	African American mathematician
2	Dorothy Dandridge	1923	American film and theatre actress, singer and dancer
3	Dorothy Bush Koch	1959	American writer and philanthropist
4	Dorothy Day	1897	Social activist
5	Dorothy Stratten	1960	Actress, model
6	Dorothy Parker	1893	American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist
7	Dorothy Wang	1988	American socialite
8	Dorothy Kilgallen	1913	Journalist, television personality
9	Dorothy Hamill	1956	Figure Skater
10	Dorothy Howell Rodham	1919	American homemaker
11	Dorothy Lamour	1914	American actress and singer
12	Dorothy Malone	1925	American actress
13	Dorothy Gale		Fictional protagonist of many of the Oz novels by the American author L. Frank Baum
14	Dorothy McGuire	1916	Actress
15	Dorothy Squires	1915	British singer
16	Dorothy L. Sayers	1893	English crime writer, playwright, essayist and Christian writer
17	Dorothy Lyman	1947	American actress and director
18	Dorothy Bridges	1915	Actress and poet from the United States
19	Dorothy Provine	1935	American singer, dancer, actress and comedienne
20	Dorothy Zbornak
21	Dorothy Hodgkin	1910	British chemist
22	Dorothy Eady	1904	Egyptian egyptologist
23	Dorothy Height	1912	American activist
24	Dorothy Walker Bush	1901	American politician
25	Dorothy Gish	1898	American actress
26	Dorothy Gibson	1889	Silent film actress, singer, model
27	Dorothy Ruth	1921	Daughter of Babe Ruth
28	Dorothy Fay	1915	Actress
29	Dorothy LeMay	1954	American pornographic actress
30	Dorothy Mengering	1921	American television personality
31	Dorothy Stang	1931	Amazonian activist
32	Dorothy Fuldheim	1893	American journalist
33	Dorothy DeBorba	1925	Film actress
34	Dorothy Atkinson	1966	British actress and singer
35	Dorothy Hale	1905	Socialite, actress
36	Dorothy Arzner	1897	American film director and film editor
37	Dorothy Pitman Hughes	1938	US women's rights activist
38	Dorothy Counts	1942	American activist
39	Dorothy Mackaill	1903	English-born American actress
40	Dorothy Fields	1905	American musician
41	Dorothy Comingore	1913	American actress
42	Dorothy Tutin	1930	British actress
43	Dorothy Arnold	1917	Actress
44	Dorothy Wordsworth	1771	English author, poet and diarist
45	Dorothy Ashby	1932	American harpist
46	Dorothy Good	1687	Child accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials
47	Dorothy Kamenshek	1925	Baseball player
48	Dorothy Elias-Fahn	1970	American voice actress
49	Dorothy Moore	1946	American musician
50	Dorothy Loudon	1925	American actress, singer, performer
51	Dorothy Anstett	1948	American model
52	Dorothy Richardson	1873	Writer
53	Dorothy Dunnett	1923	British writer
54	Dorothy Adams	1900	American actress
55	Dorothy Draper	1889	American interior designer
56	Dorothy Dix	1861	American newspaper columnist
57	Dorothy Norwood	1935	American Musician
58	Dorothy Dell	1915	Actress
59	Dorothy E. Smith	1926	Canadian anthropologist
60	Dorothy de Rothschild	1895	English philanthropist
61	Dorothy Wright Nelson	1928	United States federal judge
62	Dorothy Lucey	1958	Entertainment reporter
63	Dorothy Rabinowitz		American journalist
64	Dorothy Kazel	1939	American Roman Catholic nun
65	Dorothy Sebastian	1903	Actress
66	Dorothy Shakespear	1886	Artist, participated in the Vorticism movement
67	Dorothy Dietrich	1969	American magician and escapologist
68	Dorothy Collins	1926	Canadian/American singer, actress, and recording artist
69	Dorothy Gilman	1923	American spy fiction writer
70	Dorothy DeLay	1917	American musician
71	Dorothy Buffum Chandler	1901	American cultural leader
72	Dorothy Canfield Fisher	1879	American author and social activist
73	Dorothy Ayer Gardner Ford	1892	Mother of U.S. President Gerald Ford
74	Dorothy Quincy	1747	First Lady of Massachutts
75	Dorothy Kunhardt	1901	American historian and writer
76	Dorothy Lawrence	1896	English reporter and cross-dresser
77	Dorothy West	1907	American writer
78	Dorothy M. Johnson	1905	Writer
79	Dorothy Davenport	1895	Actor, film director
80	Dorothy Duffy	2000	Actress
81	Dorothy Hart	1922	American actress
82	Dorothy Hamilton Brush	1894	American lawyer, birth control and women's rights advocate
83	Dorothy Garrod	1892	British archaeologist and first female Professor at the University of Cambridge
84	Dorothy Alison	1925	Australian stage, film, and television actress
85	Dorothy Molter	1907	American hermit
86	Dorothy Schiff	1903	American newspaper publisher
87	Dorothy Patrick	1921	Actress
88	Dorothy Stafford	1526	English noblewoman and courtier
89	Dorothy Van	1928	American artist
90	Dorothy Stickney	1896	Roadway actress
91	Dorothy M. Metcalf-Lindenburger	1975	Astronaut
92	Dorothy Cann Hamilton	1949	American chef
93	Dorothy Green	1920	American actress (1920-2008)
94	Dorothy Hansine Andersen	1901	American physician
95	Dorothy Morrison	1919	American actress
96	Dorothy Emmet	1904	British philosopher
97	Dorothy Wilde	1895	British writer
98	Dorothy Abbott	1920	Actress
99	Dorothy Norman	1905	American photographer, writer and editor
100	Dorothy Peterson	1897	Actress
101	Dorothy P. Rice	1922
102	Dorothy C. Stratton	1899	Director of the SPARS, the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve during World War II
103	Dorothy Ferguson	1923	Canadian baseball player
104	Dorothy Hyson	1914	Stage actress
105	Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland	1564	English noble
106	Dorothy Goetz	1892	American musician
107	Dorothy Hammerstein	1899	American interior designer
108	Dorothy E. Denning	1945	American information security researcher
109	Dorothy Cotton	1930	American activist
110	Dorothy Burgess	1907	Film, stage actress
111	Dorothy Levitt	1882	British racing driver
112	Dorothy B. Hughes	1904	American writer
113	Dorothy Short	1915	American actress
114	Dorothy Hill	1907	Australian geologist and palaeontology
115	Dorothy Payne Whitney	1887	American philanthropist
116	Dorothy Koomson	1971	British writer
117	Dorothy Tillman	1947	American activist
118	Dorothy A. Brown	1953	Cook County Clerk
119	Dorothy Love Coates	1928	American musician
120	Dorothy Bentinck, Duchess of Portland	1750
121	Dorothy Lee	1911	American actress and comedian
122	Dorothy Ford	1922	Actor and model
123	Dorothy Dunbar	1902	American actress
124	Dorothy Paul	1937	British actor and comedian
125	Dorothy Harrison Eustis	1886	Philanthropist and founder of The Seeing Eye
126	Dorothy Taubman	1917	An American music teacher.
127	Dorothy Dalton	1893	American actress
128	Dorothy Benham	1955	American beauty pageant contestant
129	Dorothy McKibbin	1897
130	Dorothy Dene	1859	British actor and model
131	Dorothy Tree	1906	American actress, voice teacher and writer
132	Dorothy Kirsten	1910	American operatic soprano
133	Dorothy Hyman	1941	British athlete
134	Dorothy Black	1899	South African-British actress
135	Dorothy Masuka	1935	Jazz singer
136	Dorothy Townshend	1686	English aristocrat
137	Dorothy Christy	1900	American actress
138	Dorothy Dwan	1906	Actress
139	Dorothy Porter	1954	Australian poet
140	Dorothy Paget	1905	British noble
141	Dorothy Spinner
142	Dorothy Hope Smith	1895	American artist
143	Dorothy Allison	1924	American psychic
144	Dorothy Roberts	1956	Public intellectual and social justice advocate
145	Dorothy Burlingham	1891	American psychoanalyst
146	Dorothy Lavinia Brown	1919	African-American surgeon, teacher and politician
147	Dorothy Salisbury Davis	1916	Novelist, short story writer
148	Dorothy Hewett	1923	Author and poet from Western Australia
149	Dorothy Kenyon	1888	American politician
150	Dorothy Otnow Lewis		American psychiatrist
151	Dorothy Appleby	1906	American actress
152	Dorothy LaBostrie	1928	American musician
153	Dorothy Barnes Pelote	1929	American politician
154	Dorothy Morris	1922	Actress
155	Dorothy Jordan	1906	Actress
156	Dorothy Shay	1921	American singer
157	Dorothy Bussy	1865	English novelist and translator
158	Dorothy Nolte	1924	American writer
159	Dorothy Hartley	1893	British historian
160	Dorothy Donegan	1922	American jazz pianist
161	Dorothy Wilson	1909	American film actress
162	Dorothy Tennov	1928	American psychologist
163	Dorothy Rice Sims	1889	American aviator, bridge player, journalist, sportswoman
164	Dorothy Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington	1889	Duchess of Wellington
165	Dorothy Macardle	1889	Irish writer
166	Dorothy Granger	1912	American actress
167	Dorothy Tennant	1855	British artist
168	Dorothy Spencer	1909	American film editor
169	Dorothy King	1975	American self-described archaeologist and historian
170	Dorothy Brett	1883	American artist
171	Dorothy Baker	1916	Madam
172	Dorothy Tyler-Odam	1920	British Olympic high jumper
173	Dorothy Page	1904	American actress
174	Dorothy Heyward	1890	American playwright
175	Dorothy Galton	1901	Galton, Dorothy Constance (1901–1992), university administrator and apiculturist
176	Dorothy Phillips	1889	American actress
177	Dorothy Heathcote	1926	British academic
178	Dorothy Cumming	1895	Actress
179	Dorothy Allred Solomon	1949	American activist
180	Dorothy G. Page	1921	American mayor
181	Dorothy Wall	1894	New Zealand writer
182	Dorothy Janis	1912	Actress
183	Dorothy Edwards	1914	British writer
184	Dorothy Cheney	1916	American tennis player
185	Dorothy Harrell	1924	All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
186	Dorothy Rowe	1930	Australian psychologist
187	Dorothy Garlock	1942	American writer
188	Dorothy Revier	1904	American actress
189	Dorothy Clarke Wilson	1904	American writer
190	Dorothy Yeats	1993	Canadian sport wrestler
191	Dorothy Donnelly	1880	American actress
192	Dorothy Burke
193	Dorothy Iannone	1933	American-born visual artist
194	Dorothy Dickson	1893	American actress
195	Dorothy Livesay	1909	Canadian poet
196	Dorothy Ray Healey	1914	American politician
197	Dorothy Kingsley	1909	Screenwriter,
198	Dorothy Jeakins	1914	Costume designer
199	Dorothy Bullitt	1892	American broadcasting pioneer
200	Dorothy Stowe	1920	American environmentalist