Debi
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "bee".
Name Census estimates that about 2,977 living Americans carry the first name Debi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Debi today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Debi births was 1958 (504 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Debi. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Debi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 115,134 Americans
Peak year
1958
504 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2006 SSA rank
#15,615
Tracked since 1946
Census
Debi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,894 people with the first name Debi, which placed it at #3,975 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
#3,975
National first-name rank
People counted
4.9K
4,894 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Debi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Debi is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Debi 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 Debi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.1% · 4,263
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 217
- Two or more races3.0% · 148
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 120
- Black or African American2.2% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 38
Popularity
Debi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Debi from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,857 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
Debi 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 Debi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Debis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Debi, while West Virginia, Alabama, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Debi
The name Debi is a feminine given name with roots in several cultures and languages. It is believed to have originated as a variant of the Sanskrit name Devi, which means "goddess" or "divine one". This name has been used in various forms across the Indian subcontinent for centuries.
In Hinduism, Devi is a collective term for the female deities, representing the divine feminine energy or Shakti. The name Debi may have been derived from this concept, symbolizing the sacred and auspicious nature of the name bearer.
However, the name Debi also has connections to other languages and cultures. In some regions of India, it is considered a diminutive or pet form of the name Deborah, which has Hebrew origins and means "bee". This connection suggests that the name Debi could have been influenced by the cultural exchange and migration of people across different regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Debi can be found in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was used to refer to various goddesses and divine feminine figures. For example, in the Devi Mahatmya, a significant text in Shaktism, the name Devi is used extensively to describe the supreme goddess.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the name Debi. One such figure is Debi Chaudhurani (1876-1923), an Indian social reformer and writer from Bengal, who advocated for women's education and fought against social injustices.
Another prominent Debi was Debi Prasad Ghosh (1838-1909), an Indian philosopher and social reformer who founded the Brahmo Samaj, a influential religious movement in Bengal.
In the realm of literature, Debi Patil (1913-1981) was a renowned Marathi writer and poet from Maharashtra, known for her works that explored the lives and struggles of women.
The name Debi also found its way into the world of entertainment. Debi Mukherjee (1932-2014) was a celebrated Indian actress who appeared in numerous Bengali and Hindi films, and was honored with several prestigious awards for her contributions to Indian cinema.
Lastly, Debi Thomas (born 1967) is an American figure skater and physician, who made history as the first African American to win the singles' title at the US Figure Skating Championships in 1986 and 1988.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Debi throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry associated with this name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Debi
People
Debi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Debi 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
Debi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Debi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,977 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Debi 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 115,134 US residents.
Is Debi a common name?
We classify Debi as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,822 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Debi most popular?
The single biggest year for Debi was 1958, when 504 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Debi is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Debi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,894 people with the name Debi, or 1.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,975 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 Debi 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 Debi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Debi appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,900 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Debi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Debi is White at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Debi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Debi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (4,263 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 Debi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Debi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Debi 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 Debi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Debi 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 Debi 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 Americans are named Debi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.