Deyanira
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "bearer of light".
Name Census estimates that about 1,879 living Americans carry the first name Deyanira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deyanira today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deyanira births was 1993 (201 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deyanira. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 182,413 Americans
Peak year
1993
201 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,324
Tracked since 1962
Census
Deyanira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,787 people with the first name Deyanira, which placed it at #4,779 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
#4,779
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,787 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deyanira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deyanira is Hispanic at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (0.6%) and Black (0.6%). 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 Deyanira 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 Deyanira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.5% · 3,730
- White0.6% · 24
- Black or African American0.6% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 2
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Deyanira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deyanira from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 743 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deyanira 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 Deyanira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deyaniras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Deyanira, while Washington, Pennsylvania, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 118 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deyanira
The name Deyanira has its roots in Greek mythology and culture. It is derived from the ancient Greek words "deia" meaning "divine" or "heavenly," and "anir" meaning "man" or "husband." The name was originally spelled as "Deianeira" in ancient Greek texts.
In Greek mythology, Deianira was the wife of the hero Heracles (or Hercules in Roman mythology). She played a significant role in the tragic events leading to Heracles' death. The name appears in various ancient Greek texts, including the works of the tragic playwrights Sophocles and Euripides.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Deyanira can be found in the ancient Greek epic poem "The Trachiniae" by Sophocles, believed to have been written around 450 BCE. In this work, Deianira is depicted as a devoted wife who unintentionally causes her husband's death due to a misunderstanding.
Throughout history, the name Deyanira has been borne by several notable individuals. One such person was Deyanira Felicia Osorno (1828-1892), a Colombian poet and writer who was known for her contributions to the romantic literary movement in Latin America.
Another historical figure with the name Deyanira was Deyanira Ruíz Rueda (1907-1998), a Mexican artist and painter who was part of the Mexican muralism movement and worked alongside renowned artists like Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.
In the field of music, Deyanira Navarro (born 1956) is a Venezuelan singer, songwriter, and composer. She is known for her contributions to the Latin American folk music genre and has released several successful albums throughout her career.
Deyanira Milligan (born 1964) is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur who co-founded the online jewelry retailer Brilliant Earth. She has been recognized for her efforts in promoting ethical and sustainable practices in the jewelry industry.
Deyanira Delgado-Peña (born 1987) is a Nicaraguan-American professional boxer who has won several titles in various weight classes. She has represented Nicaragua in international competitions and is considered one of the most successful female boxers from Central America.
People
Deyanira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deyanira 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
Deyanira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deyanira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,879 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deyanira 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 182,413 US residents.
Is Deyanira a common name?
We classify Deyanira as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,950 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deyanira most popular?
The single biggest year for Deyanira was 1993, when 201 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deyanira is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deyanira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,787 people with the name Deyanira, or 1.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,779 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 Deyanira 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 Deyanira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deyanira appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,788 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Deyanira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deyanira is Hispanic at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (0.6%) and Black (0.6%). 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 Deyanira most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Deyanira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.5% (3,730 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 Deyanira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deyanira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deyanira 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 Deyanira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deyanira 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 Deyanira 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 called Deyanira?
See how many Americans are named Deyanira on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.