There were many, many dwarves who awoke first, but the 7 fathers were the most notable.

FYI, Tolkien wasn't great on featuring female characters in general, but was especially bad for dwarves. I don't think there is a canon example of a named female dwarf, but they were mentioned.

@Fandyllic There was Dis, sister of Thorin Oakenshield and mother of Fili and Kili, but other than that, there are no other female Dwarves named

@Theaxolotl200 where is she mentioned?

@Fandyllic She appears in the Dwarf's Family Tree

@Fandyllic She is mentioned in Appendix A of The Lord of the Rings by appearing on the family tree

@Theaxolotl200 how do we know Dís is female?

@Fandyllic hmm, maybe because Dís is explicitly mentioned as the daughter of King Thráin.

Each of the Seven Fathers, except Durin the Deathless, the eldest, had also a wife beside them. See Letter #212 and HoME XI.

Durin had no wife, so maybe he married a dwarf-woman from another clan.