Dexter is a boy's name of Portuguese origin meaning “dyer of cloth.” In 2024 it was given to 364 boys in the United States.
Dexter belongs to the Portuguese and English & American tradition. Its meaning — “dyer of cloth” — is the sense carried by its Portuguese roots, and it is the meaning we verified against published sources for this page.
In the United States, Dexter first appears in Social Security records in 1880. It climbed to its best-ever rank of #262 in 1968, and in 2024 364 babies received the name — 36,186 in total since 1880. Those are the official counts, not estimates.
More names from the Portuguese shelf:
Dexter means “dyer of cloth” in its Portuguese roots. We check every meaning against published sources before it appears here.
Dexter is a boy name. In 2024, 364 babies received the name in the US.
Dexter comes from the Portuguese and English & American tradition.
Dexter first appears in US records in 1880. Its best-ever ranking was #262 in 1968, and 364 babies were given the name in 2024.
Dexter is pronounced /ˈdɛkstɚ/ (IPA).
Meaning and origin for this page were checked against this source. US popularity figures are from the Social Security Administration's public baby-names data. England & Wales figures are from the Office for National Statistics. If you spot an error, write to hello@namepetal.com — accuracy is the whole point of this site, and corrections are made fast.
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