Shem Tov Boy's nameOrigin: HebrewIn Israel: steady
DovIn Hebrew: דב · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: דֹּב
Dov (Hebrew: דב) is a boy's name of Hebrew origin. 6,260 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 87 boys and ranked #194. Its peak year was 1949, with 223 babies.
- People in Israel
- 6,260
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 87
- rank #194
- Peak year
- 1949
- 223 babies
- USA, 2025
- 123
- rank #1,451
Writing and saying Dov
In Hebrew letters the name is דב, read right to left. Dov is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms.
We have no sourced English explanation of this name yet, so we do not guess one. The Hebrew page has our Hebrew notes when there are any.
Dov by year: Israel and abroad
How many boys out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Dov in English-speaking countries
| Country / region | Year | Babies | Rank | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | 123 | #1,451 | 2022 (160) |
| United Kingdom | 2025 | 7 | #3,021 | 2023 (19) |
| England and Wales | 2025 | 7 | #2,938 | 2023 (19) |
Counts for boys. The Hebrew page for Dov has every year and the other spellings.
Questions about Dov
How do you write Dov in Hebrew?
Dov is written דב in Hebrew (with vowel points: דֹּב). Hebrew is read right to left.
How many people in Israel are named Dov?
6,260 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name דב: 0 women and 6,260 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Dov a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a boy's name: 100.0% of the people named דב are men.
Is Dov used outside Israel?
The name Dov appears in the official baby name lists of English-speaking countries. In the United States 123 boys were given it in 2025 (#1,451), per the Social Security Administration. In the UK 7 in 2025 (ONS, NRS and NISRA combined).
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.
Abroad
- United States: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications - National Data
Years 1880–2025 · updated 2026-04-13 · licence: Public domain (U.S. Government work) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published - England and Wales: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996
Years 1996–2025 · updated 2026-07 · licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · names given to fewer than 3 babies a year are not published - Quebec: Retraite Québec
Banque de prénoms (filles, garçons)
Years 1980–2025 · updated 2026-06-18 · licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published
Counts are copied as published. We only merged accented spellings (Zoë = Zoe) and computed ranks and rates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia and the Open Government Licence – Alberta.