girls' name ★ peaked 1954

Deborah

Meaning vorah, a Hebrew word meaning Gender Girl Rank 2025 #864 Trend → Stable

Deborah is a feminine given name derived from דבורה D'vorah, a Hebrew word meaning "bee".

Rank 2025
#864
among girls · ↓10 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
313
named Deborah · -1% vs 2024
How common
1 in 5,135
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1954
54,754 babies
All-time total
744,478
#32 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Deborah popularity over time

744,478 babies have been named Deborah since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
7.51522.53018801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 143 – 143 14 – #452
1890s 183 – 183 18 +28% #540
1900s 226 – 226 23 +23% #703
1910s 651 – 651 65 +188% #644
1920s 1,070 – 1,070 107 +64% #534
1930s 2,808 6 2,814 281 +163% #293
1940s 44,054 86 44,140 4,414 +1469% #15
1950s 430,537 788 431,325 43,133 +877% #2
1960s 183,439 492 183,931 18,393 -57% #9
1970s 47,855 215 48,070 4,807 -74% #33
1980s 14,783 66 14,849 1,485 -69% #146
1990s 7,574 5 7,579 758 -49% #262
2000s 4,284 – 4,284 428 -43% #494
2010s 3,429 – 3,429 343 -20% #752
2020s (to 2025) 1,784 – 1,784 297 -13% #854

Where Deborah is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 313 0.19 outside top 500
2027 313 0.19 outside top 500
2028 312 0.19 outside top 500
2029 312 0.19 outside top 500
2030 312 0.19 outside top 500

Where Deborah is most popular

Girls named Deborah per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.184 per 1,000. Strongest in Massachusetts, Indiana, and Maryland.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Deborah born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Massachusetts 60 0.496 +170%
Indiana 66 0.470 +155%
Maryland 41 0.387 +110%
Florida 157 0.367 +99%
New Jersey 66 0.366 +99%
Virginia 49 0.287 +56%
Kentucky 24 0.281 +52%
Georgia 63 0.277 +51%
New York 95 0.240 +30%
Texas 190 0.236 +28%
North Carolina 49 0.215 +17%
Minnesota 23 0.213 +16%
Ohio 50 0.211 +15%
Arkansas 10 0.189 ≈ national
Washington 25 0.173 -6%
Iowa 10 0.171 -7%
Pennsylvania 39 0.165 -10%
California 134 0.159 -13%
Tennessee 22 0.139 -25%
Illinois 31 0.135 -26%
Missouri 15 0.124 -32%
Connecticut 6 0.103 -44%
Michigan 13 0.071 -61%
Utah 5 0.060 -67%
Alabama 5 0.053 -71%
Colorado 5 0.045 -76%
Arizona 5 0.036 -81%
Alaska – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Idaho – – –
Kansas – – –
Louisiana – – –
Maine – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
Wisconsin – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Deborah

Deborah is uncommon for girls in the United States, ranked #864 in 2025 with 313 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 744,478 American babies have been named Deborah. Its peak came in 1954, when 54,754 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1950s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Deborah stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Deborah?

The median living Deborah is about 68 years old; half are between 61 and 72. An estimated 628 thousand people named Deborah are alive in the United States today.

median 68 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Deborah year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 313 #864 – –
2024 317 #854 – –
2023 267 #968 – –
2022 301 #911 – –
2021 295 #910 – –
2020 291 #904 – –
2019 296 #900 – –
2018 350 #781 – –
2017 357 #773 – –
2016 349 #823 – –
2015 350 #804 – –
2014 373 #752 – –
2013 330 #815 – –
2012 337 #793 – –
2011 332 #811 – –
2010 355 #774 – –
2009 346 #817 – –
2008 356 #808 – –
2007 372 #777 – –
2006 425 #672 – –
2005 425 #653 – –
2004 427 #640 – –
2003 423 #632 – –
2002 474 #559 – –
2001 490 #543 – –
2000 546 #494 – –
1995 659 #398 – –
1990 1,095 #262 5 #8,415
1985 1,400 #192 7 #5,276
1980 1,937 #146 7 #5,056
1975 3,414 #86 15 #2,665
1970 9,845 #33 28 #1,629
1965 17,081 #13 44 #1,131
1960 25,266 #10 64 #946
1955 52,318 #2 100 #729
1950 29,063 #7 47 #1,025
1945 1,462 #161 – –
1940 470 #291 – –
1935 281 #378 – –
1930 165 #529 – –
1925 82 #821 – –
1920 82 #799 – –
1915 105 #644 – –
1910 33 #740 – –
1905 18 #879 – –
1900 26 #707 – –
1895 13 #900 – –
1890 24 #540 – –
1885 10 #701 – –
1880 12 #499 – –

Famous people named Deborah

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Deborah Ann Woll Deborah Ann Woll American actress (born 1985) Contemporary
  2. 2 Deborah Kerr Deborah Kerr Scottish actress (1921–2007) Contemporary
  3. 3 Deborah Kara Unger Deborah Kara Unger Canadian actress (born 1966) Contemporary
  4. 4 Deborah Deborah Prophetess in the Bible -1199–-1123 · Antiquity
  5. 5 Deborah Cox Deborah Cox Canadian musician and actress (born 1974) Contemporary
  6. 6 Deborah Lipstadt Deborah Lipstadt American diplomat and Holocaust historian (born 1947) Contemporary
  7. 7 Deborah Raffin Deborah Raffin American actress (1953–2012) Contemporary
  8. 8 Deborah Shelton Deborah Shelton American actress (born 1948) Contemporary
  9. 9 Deborah Snyder American film producer b. 1901 · Contemporary
  10. 10 Deborah Birx Deborah Birx American physician and diplomat b. 1956 · Contemporary
  11. 11 Deborah Compagnoni Deborah Compagnoni Italian alpine skier (born 1970) Contemporary
  12. 12 Deborah Secco Deborah Secco Brazilian actress (born 1979) Contemporary
  13. 13 Deborah S. Jin Deborah S. Jin American physicist 1968–2016 · Contemporary
  14. 14 Deborah Gravenstijn Deborah Gravenstijn Dutch judoka (born 1974) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Deborah, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Deborah?

The median living Deborah is about 68 years old. Half of all living Deborahs are between 61 and 72 years old.

How many people named Deborah are alive today?

An estimated 628 thousand people named Deborah are alive in the United States, based on 744,478 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Deborah mean?

Deborah is a feminine given name derived from דבורה D'vorah, a Hebrew word meaning "bee".

How popular is the name Deborah in 2025?

Deborah ranked #864 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 313 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Deborah?

744,478 babies have been named Deborah in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Deborah most popular?

Deborah peaked in 1954, when 54,754 newborns received the name.

Is Deborah a boy or girl name?

Deborah is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Deborah rising or falling?

Deborah has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Deborah become more popular?

Deborah looks stable. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 312 girls named Deborah in 2030, ranking outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Deborah?

Well-known people named Deborah include Deborah Ann Woll (actor), Deborah Kerr (actor), Deborah Kara Unger (actor).

Names like Deborah

Names that sound and feel close to Deborah: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Deborah with similar names → More names starting with D →