Entry № 0672 · Greek origin

Dorothea Dorothea — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ doh-roh-THAY-ah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Gift of God (Dorothea Lange; Dorothea Brooke in Middlemarch)"
Syllables
4
Rank · US 2025
№ 0
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "gift of god (dorothea lange; dorothea brooke in middlemarch)".

Dorothea is from the Greek dōron (gift) + theos (god) — same elements as Theodora in reverse order. **Dorothea Lange (1895-1965)** — **American documentary photographer whose Dust Bowl-era images — most famously *Migrant Mother* (1936) of Florence Owens Thompson — defined the visual memory of the Great Depression**. **Worked for the Farm Security Administration** alongside Walker Evans and Marion Post Wolcott. **Dorothea Brooke** is the heroine of **George Eliot's *Middlemarch* (1871-72)** — widely considered the greatest English novel. **Dorothea Dix (1802-1887)** — American activist whose 1841 testimony to the Massachusetts legislature founded the modern asylum reform movement.

Subject of Linda Gordon's *Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits* (2009).

Gift of God. Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother; Dorothea Brooke of Middlemarch; Dorothea Dix's asylum reform.

The name in its native script.

Δωροθέα
Transliteration
Dōrothéa
Pronunciation
/ ˌdɒr.əˈθiː.ə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Dorothea stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 0 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 161 in 1890
Babies named Dorothea · last year
130 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
1880
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · #161 NOW · —

Dorotheas before her.

Real people
Dorothea Lange
American documentary photographer.
1895 – 1965
Dorothea Dix
American asylum reform activist.
1802 – 1887
In fiction
Dorothea Brooke
George Eliot's Middlemarch.
1871

Names connected to Dorothea.

The number behind Dorothea.

4

The Builder

Dorothea reduces to four — the number of gift of God.

Why families chose this name.

"Lange's gift of God. Eight letters. Dorothea."
Catherine · Mother of one · San Francisco