girl's name
Doreen
dor-EEN
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 47,692
Scotland
#621
1987 births
Doreen has two possible parents and neither is settled — an Irish Doireann whose own meaning is disputed, or Dora with an Irish diminutive attached, which would make it a nineteenth-century construction. An 1894 novel drove its rise in Britain.
- Doreen is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 1956, when 2,574 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 132,626 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1900.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Doreen over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 50 |
| 1910s | 286 |
| 1920s | 1,688 |
| 1930s | 2,859 |
| 1940s | 5,461 |
| 1950s | 16,105 |
| 1960s | 14,707 |
| 1970s | 3,351 |
| 1980s | 950 |
| 1990s | 443 |
| 2000s | 244 |
| 2010s | 235 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 110 |
What Doreen means
Doreen means either sullen or the daughter of Finn on the Irish reading, or gift by way of Dora and the Greek. The two accounts share nothing and neither is established.
Where Doreen comes from
Doreen has two competing sources. The Irish Doireann is old and its meaning genuinely disputed — daughter of Finn and sullen have both been argued, and neither convinces. Alternatively it is Dora, from the Greek doron, a gift, with the Irish diminutive -een attached, which would make it a nineteenth-century coinage. Its rise in Britain followed Edna Lyall's 1894 novel Doreen, which suggests the second account.
Doreen in use
Doreen peaked in the United States in 1956, when 2,574 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 5130th in the United States on 25 births and 5305th in England and Wales on 4, across 47,692 lifetime births in three of the seven markets we track. Ireland ran its own peak of 25 births in 1965 and Scotland 14 in 1976.
How popular is Doreen?
In 2025, Doreen was given to 25 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Doreen is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Doreen
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Doreen also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Doreen over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Doreen in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Doreen
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Doreen — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Doreen
What does the name Doreen mean?
Unsettled. The Irish Doireann is disputed, and a Dora-plus-diminutive origin is equally possible.
Is Doreen Irish?
Possibly. Its British rise followed an 1894 novel, which suggests the Dora account.
What does Dora mean?
A gift — the Greek doron.
How popular is Doreen?
5130th in the United States, down from a 1956 peak of 2,574 births.
Is Doreen a girl's or a boy's name?
Doreen is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Doreen?
Doreen has 2 syllables.
Is Doreen a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Doreen currently ranks #3,637 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.