Deidre
Feminine name of Irish origin meaning "wanderer" or "sorrowful one".
Name Census estimates that about 12,600 living Americans carry the first name Deidre. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deidre today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deidre births was 1963 (541 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deidre. 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.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 27,203 Americans
Peak year
1963
541 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1987 SSA rank
#6,295
Tracked since 1933
Census
Deidre in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,811 people with the first name Deidre, which placed it at #2,098 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
#2,098
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,811 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deidre
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deidre is White at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Deidre 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 Deidre at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.8% · 7,664
- Black or African American30.5% · 3,907
- Two or more races3.9% · 495
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 484
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 149
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 112
Gender
Gender distribution for Deidre
Out of the 14,677 babies given the name Deidre since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Deidre as a male name
- Ranked #6,295 in 1987
- 6 male births in 1987
- Peak: 1987 (6 births)
Deidre as a female name
- Ranked #15,765 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1963 (541 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deidre appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,807 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Deidre: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deidre from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 4,369 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deidre 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 Deidre during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deidres live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Deidre, while Idaho, Hawaii, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 290 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deidre
The name Deidre has its roots in the ancient Irish language. It is derived from the Gaelic word "derdriu," which means "wanderer" or "traveler." The name is believed to have originated in the 5th or 6th century AD, during the time of the early Celtic tribes in Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Deidre can be found in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. In the epic tale "The Tragic Story of Deirdre and the Sons of Usnach," Deidre is a beautiful and tragic heroine who is forced to flee her homeland with her lover, Naoise, and his brothers. This ancient tale has been passed down through oral tradition for centuries and has had a significant influence on Irish folklore and literature.
The name Deidre gained popularity in medieval times, particularly among the Irish nobility. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Deidre, the daughter of the 11th-century Irish king Muirchertach Ua Briain. She was known for her beauty and her tragic love affair with the Norman knight Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Deidre. In the 16th century, Deidre O'Donnell was an Irish noblewoman and the wife of the famous chieftain Red Hugh O'Donnell. She played a crucial role in the Nine Years' War against English rule in Ireland.
Another famous Deidre was Deidre Dee-Sampson (1914-2007), a British actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 20th century. She was known for her roles in classics such as "The Winslow Boy" and "The Sundowners."
In the literary world, Deidre Madden (born 1944) is an acclaimed Irish novelist and playwright. Her works, including "Molly Fox's Birthday" and "One by One in the Darkness," have garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards.
Deidre McGuinness (1953-2011) was an Irish singer and traditional musician who played a significant role in the revival of Irish folk music in the late 20th century. She was renowned for her beautiful renditions of traditional Irish ballads and her work in preserving Ireland's rich musical heritage.
People
Deidre + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deidre 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
Deidre: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deidre?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,600 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deidre 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 27,203 US residents.
Is Deidre a common name?
We classify Deidre as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,677 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deidre most popular?
The single biggest year for Deidre was 1963, when 541 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deidre is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deidre in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,811 people with the name Deidre, or 4.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,098 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 Deidre 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 Deidre?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deidre appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,807 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Deidre?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deidre is White at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Deidre most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Deidre in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.8% (7,664 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 Deidre in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deidre a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Deidre 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 Deidre still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deidre 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 Deidre 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 are named Deidre?
Want to know how many Americans are named Deidre? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.