Dez
A short form of the French name Desirée, meaning "desired one".
Name Census estimates that about 348 living Americans carry the first name Dez. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dez today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dez births was 2015 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dez. 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
348
~ 1 in 984,926 Americans
Peak year
2015
44 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,481
Tracked since 1999
Census
Dez in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 670 people with the first name Dez, which placed it at #16,725 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
#16,725
National first-name rank
People counted
670
670 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
29.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dez
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dez is White at 29.6%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Hispanic (26.6%). 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 Dez 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 Dez at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White29.6% · 198
- Black or African American26.7% · 179
- Hispanic or Latino26.6% · 178
- Two or more races9.3% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 13
Popularity
Dez: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dez from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 241 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Dez remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dez 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 Dez during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dez' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Dez, while Florida, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dez
The name Dez originates from the French language and is a diminutive form of the name Desiderius, which has Latin roots. Desiderius was derived from the Latin word "desiderare," meaning "to desire" or "to long for." The name Dez gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in France and other parts of Europe.
In ancient times, the name Desiderius was borne by several notable figures. One of the most famous was Desiderius, the last king of the Lombards, who ruled in the 8th century. He played a significant role in the conflicts between the Lombards and the Franks, ultimately leading to the downfall of the Lombard Kingdom.
Another historical figure with the name Desiderius was Pope Victor III, born Desiderius of Benevento in the 11th century. He served as the Pope from 1086 to 1087 and was known for his efforts to reform the Church and combat simony (the buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices).
The earliest recorded examples of the name Dez can be traced back to the 12th and 13th centuries in France. One notable bearer of the name was Dez de Marsal, a French nobleman and military commander who lived in the 13th century and participated in the Crusades.
Throughout history, several famous individuals have borne the name Dez. One of them was Dez Monplaisir, a French-Canadian actor and singer who was born in 1940 and gained popularity for his performances in various theater productions and films.
Another notable figure was Dez Fitzpatrick, an American football player who was born in 1998 and played wide receiver for the University of Louisville. He was later drafted by the New England Patriots in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Dez Bryant, an American football player born in 1988, is perhaps one of the most well-known bearers of the name Dez. He played as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL from 2010 to 2017 and was selected to the Pro Bowl three times.
Dez Fafara, born in 1966, is an American musician and the lead vocalist of the heavy metal bands DevilDriver and Coal Chamber. He has been a prominent figure in the metal scene and has released numerous successful albums.
Overall, the name Dez has a rich history spanning several centuries and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including nobility, religious figures, artists, and athletes, making it a diverse and culturally significant name.
People
Dez + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dez 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
Dez: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dez?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 348 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dez 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 984,926 US residents.
Is Dez a common name?
We classify Dez as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 351 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dez most popular?
The single biggest year for Dez was 2015, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dez is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dez in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 670 people with the name Dez, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,725 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 Dez 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 Dez?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dez on both sides of the split. Of the 669 people counted with this name, 446 were male (66.7%) and 223 were female (33.3%). 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 Dez?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dez is White at 29.6%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Hispanic (26.6%). 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 Dez most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dez in the 2020 Census, accounting for 29.6% (198 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 Dez in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dez a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dez in the SSA data are male. 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 Dez still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dez 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 Dez 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 Dez?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Dez at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.