Dorothea is the original Greek form of Dorothy and means "gift of God", from doron, gift, and theos, god. Photographer Dorothea Lange, whose pictures defined the Great Depression, and the heroine of George Eliot's Middlemarch are its best-known bearers. Rediscovered along with other long vintage names, Dorothea has risen from number 3936 in 2015 to number 1782 in 2025, its highest rank on record.