Dexter (given name)

Dexter

Michael C. Hall portrayed Dexter Morgan in the American television drama series Dexter.
Gender	Masculine
Language(s)	English
Origin
Meaning	“Dyer of cloth”

Dexter is an English masculine given name. It is a transferred use of a surname derived from the Old English word deagestre, meaning “dyer of cloth.” Dexter is also a Latin term meaning skillful. Usage of the name might have increased in the Anglosphere due to well-known figures such as American politician Samuel Dexter (1761–1816) and wealthy American eccentric and author Timothy Dexter (1747–1806). More recently, attention was called to the name in the 1940s and 1950s by different media influences, including the character Dexter Haven in the 1940 American film The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 American musical High Society and the character Dexter Franklin in the Meet Corliss Archer radio and television program. Some 325 more American boys were named Dexter in 1968 than had been given the name in 1967, likely due to news coverage about the family of Martin Luther King Jr. after he was assassinated. Dexter King (1961–2024) was one of King's sons. The name also increased in use in the United States in 1989 after the character Dex Dexter appeared on the American soap opera Dynasty and again between 2006 and 2012 due to the American television series Dexter.^[1]