Deberah
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew word "davar", meaning "bee".
Name Census estimates that about 274 living Americans carry the first name Deberah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deberah today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deberah births was 1953 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deberah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Deberah is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Deberahs were born before 1966.
People living today
274
~ 1 in 1,250,928 Americans
Peak year
1953
35 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1973 SSA rank
#7,642
Tracked since 1945
Census
Deberah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 362 people with the first name Deberah, which placed it at #25,958 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,958
National first-name rank
People counted
362
362 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deberah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deberah is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Deberah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Deberah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.1% · 301
- Black or African American9.4% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 13
- Two or more races2.8% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Deberah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deberah from the 1940s through to the 1970s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 235 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deberah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Deberah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deberahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Deberah
The name Deberah is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Deborah, which has its origins in the ancient Israelite culture of the Middle East. It is derived from the Hebrew word "devorah," meaning "bee." The name is associated with diligence, productivity, and sweetness, much like the industrious nature of bees.
In the Hebrew Bible, Deborah was a celebrated prophetess and judge who led the Israelites to victory against the Canaanite army. This biblical figure is remembered for her wisdom, courage, and leadership skills, traits that have become associated with the name Deberah over time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Deberah can be found in the Septuagint, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, dating back to the 3rd century BCE. Additionally, variations of the name have been documented in ancient Hebrew inscriptions and manuscripts from the same period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Deberah. One of the most renowned was Deberah Chattick (1638-1672), an English Quaker activist and writer who advocated for religious tolerance and women's rights during the 17th century.
Another notable figure was Deberah Kip Barnes (1795-1857), an American abolitionist and educator who established one of the first schools for African American children in New York City in the early 19th century.
Deberah Bateman (1768-1809) was a British novelist and playwright whose works explored themes of social injustice and gender inequality during the Georgian era.
In the field of music, Deberah Sharn (1932-2018) was an American jazz vocalist and songwriter who performed with notable artists such as Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie in the mid-20th century.
More recently, Deberah Karat (born 1954) is an Indian politician and trade union leader who has served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament, since 2005.
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have carried the name Deberah throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Deberah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deberah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Deberah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deberah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 274 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deberah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,250,928 US residents.
Is Deberah a common name?
We classify Deberah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 394 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deberah most popular?
The single biggest year for Deberah was 1953, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deberah is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deberah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 362 people with the name Deberah, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,958 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Deberah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Deberah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deberah appears almost entirely female. Of the 354 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Deberah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deberah is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Deberah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Deberah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.1% (301 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Deberah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deberah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deberah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Deberah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deberah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Deberah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Deberah?
You can see how many Americans are named Deberah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.