Dad

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Nanne in NL Netherlands, US United States, SE Sweden and 5 more, Dada in IN India, NG Nigeria, VN Vietnam and 1 more, Dadi in TZ Tanzania, ES Spain, DZ Algeria and Dadu in PK Pakistan.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Dad is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate surname17K records spelled Dad2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Pakistan, United States, Morocco

  Also written Dād

• English surname11K records spelled Dad6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Pakistan, India

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written Da'D, Dād

• French surname1.7K records spelled Dad5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: French, Catalan, Italian

  Also written Dàd, Dâd

• Spanish surname1.4K records spelled Dad3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, United States, Mexico, Brazil

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Dâd

• Turkish surname508 records spelled Dad4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India

  Also written Dãd, Dâd

45 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Dad is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Akan, e-gyd, 1. the first pain of a cid from a sharp iron. — 2. tlie flashing of bright iron; Nali.2,4. cf. gsekannya

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• In Russian, Dad. 13-14th Centuries.

  as a word·A Dictionary of Period Russian Names (Wickenden / Goldschmidt 1996)

• In cau-lzg-pro, cock

  as a word·StarLing Tower of Babel etymological databases (Starostin et al.)

• In rgn, clipping of dàdo (“a dear”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Scottish Gaelic, anything, ought, (in the negative) nothing

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●

• Dad Shahb. 1944IRIranian rebel

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 154 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Dad?

We estimate roughly 20 thousand people bear Dad (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Dad have the most bearers?

Dad is most frequently recorded in Pakistan, where it is most often spelled dadu.

What does the name Dad mean?

Recorded meaning: informal for father