Demetra
The feminine name of Greek origin meaning "earth mother".
Name Census estimates that about 3,272 living Americans carry the first name Demetra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Demetra today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Demetra births was 1975 (133 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Demetra. 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 Demetra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 104,754 Americans
Peak year
1975
133 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1976 SSA rank
#5,082
Tracked since 1912
Census
Demetra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,296 people with the first name Demetra, which placed it at #5,267 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
#5,267
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,296 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Demetra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demetra is White at 51.5%. The next largest groups are Black (43.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Demetra 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 Demetra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.5% · 1,696
- Black or African American43.2% · 1,423
- Two or more races2.4% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Demetra
Out of the 4,209 babies given the name Demetra since 1880, 99.7% 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.
Demetra as a male name
- Ranked #5,082 in 1976
- 6 male births in 1976
- Peak: 1975 (6 births)
Demetra as a female name
- Ranked #12,456 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (127 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Demetra appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,295 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Demetra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Demetra from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,010 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Demetra 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 Demetra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Demetras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Demetra, while Pennsylvania, Missouri, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 75 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Demetra
The name Demetra is derived from the ancient Greek language and is the feminine form of the name Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture, grain, and fertility. This name has its origins in the Mycenaean Greek period, which lasted from the 16th to the 12th century BC.
Demeter is one of the most significant deities in Greek mythology, and her name is believed to derive from the Greek word "da mater," meaning "Mother Earth." She was revered as the bountiful mother who presided over the harvest and the cycle of life and death in nature. The name Demetra, therefore, carries connotations of fertility, abundance, and nurturing.
In ancient Greek literature, Demetra appears prominently in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which tells the story of her daughter Persephone's abduction by Hades, the god of the underworld. This myth was central to the Eleusinian Mysteries, an ancient Greek religious cult that celebrated the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Demetra was Demetra, a Greek woman from the 4th century BC who lived in the city of Corinth. She was known for her involvement in the cult of Demeter and was a prominent figure in the religious life of the city.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Demetra. Demetra Vaka (1877-1946) was a Greek-American author and journalist known for her works depicting the lives of Greek immigrants in the United States. Demetra Papadopoulou (1893-1941) was a Greek actress and singer who made significant contributions to the development of modern Greek theater.
In the 20th century, Demetra Vlourbeti (1915-1993) was a Greek actress and singer who achieved fame for her performances in classic Greek plays and films. Demetra Rallis (1929-2022) was a Greek politician and diplomat who served as the first female Minister of Culture in Greece from 1990 to 1992.
Demetra George (1945-2017) was an American author and educator known for her children's books and her work in promoting literacy and multicultural education. She played a significant role in introducing Greek mythology and folklore to young readers.
People
Demetra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Demetra 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
Demetra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Demetra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,272 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Demetra 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 104,754 US residents.
Is Demetra a common name?
We classify Demetra as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,209 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Demetra most popular?
The single biggest year for Demetra was 1975, when 133 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Demetra is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Demetra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,296 people with the name Demetra, or 1.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,267 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 Demetra 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 Demetra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Demetra appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,295 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 Demetra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demetra is White at 51.5%. The next largest groups are Black (43.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Demetra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Demetra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.5% (1,696 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 Demetra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Demetra a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Demetra 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 Demetra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Demetra 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 Demetra 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 have the name Demetra?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.