girls' name ★ peaked 1996

Deja

Gender Girl · 1% boys Rank 2025 #3,039 Trend ↓ Falling 24%

Deja or Déja or Dejah is a feminine given name sometimes given in reference to the French word déjà, meaning before.

Rank 2025
#3,039
among girls · ↓176 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
54
named Deja · -7% vs 2024
How common
1 in 29,764
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1996
1,647 babies
All-time total
16,360
#1,210 all-time among girls
First recorded
1962
in Social Security records

Deja popularity over time

16,360 babies have been named Deja since 1962, 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
0.250.50.75118801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
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 – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – – – – – –
1920s – – – – – –
1930s – – – – – –
1940s – – – – – –
1950s – – – – – –
1960s 5 – 5 1 – #6,789
1970s 152 5 157 16 +3040% #2,633
1980s 951 14 965 97 +515% #676
1990s 8,271 48 8,319 832 +762% #182
2000s 5,238 19 5,257 526 -37% #336
2010s 1,237 – 1,237 124 -76% #1,289
2020s (to 2025) 420 – 420 70 -43% #2,260

Where Deja 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 51 0.03 outside top 500
2027 49 0.03 outside top 500
2028 47 0.03 outside top 500
2029 46 0.03 outside top 500
2030 44 0.03 outside top 500

Where Deja is most popular

Girls named Deja per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.043 per 1,000. Strongest in Florida, Georgia, and Texas.

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 Deja 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
Florida 27 0.063 +47%
Georgia 13 0.057 +33%
Texas 33 0.041 ≈ national
Tennessee 6 0.038 -12%
Illinois 7 0.031 -29%
California 25 0.030 -31%
Pennsylvania 5 0.021 -51%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
Arizona – – –
Colorado – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Iowa – – –
Idaho – – –
Indiana – – –
Kansas – – –
Kentucky – – –
Louisiana – – –
Massachusetts – – –
Maryland – – –
Maine – – –
Michigan – – –
Minnesota – – –
Missouri – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Carolina – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Jersey – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
New York – – –
Ohio – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Utah – – –
Virginia – – –
Vermont – – –
Washington – – –
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 Deja

Deja is rare for girls in the United States, ranked #3,039 in 2025 with 54 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1962, 16,360 American babies have been named Deja. Its peak came in 1996, when 1,647 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1990s.

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 Deja stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Deja?

The median living Deja is about 27 years old; half are between 22 and 29. An estimated 16 thousand people named Deja are alive in the United States today.

median 27 020406080100

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

Deja 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 54 #3,039 – –
2024 58 #2,863 – –
2023 73 #2,451 – –
2022 83 #2,260 – –
2021 80 #2,292 – –
2020 72 #2,422 – –
2019 90 #2,093 – –
2018 91 #2,101 – –
2017 107 #1,890 – –
2016 105 #1,912 – –
2015 126 #1,686 – –
2014 122 #1,717 – –
2013 136 #1,581 – –
2012 136 #1,593 – –
2011 139 #1,573 – –
2010 185 #1,289 – –
2009 274 #970 – –
2008 311 #894 – –
2007 433 #679 – –
2006 362 #758 – –
2005 358 #749 – –
2004 474 #592 5 #11,767
2003 565 #507 – –
2002 687 #424 – –
2001 853 #350 7 #8,518
2000 921 #336 7 #8,407
1995 1,420 #205 13 #4,579
1990 278 #746 5 #8,418
1985 31 #2,959 – –
1980 66 #1,707 – –
1975 13 #4,653 – –
1970 – – – –
1965 – – – –
1960 – – – –
1955 – – – –
1950 – – – –
1945 – – – –
1940 – – – –
1935 – – – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Frequently asked questions

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

How old is the average Deja?

The median living Deja is about 27 years old. Half of all living Dejas are between 22 and 29 years old.

How many people named Deja are alive today?

An estimated 16 thousand people named Deja are alive in the United States, based on 16,360 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Deja mean?

Deja or Déja or Dejah is a feminine given name sometimes given in reference to the French word déjà, meaning before.

How popular is the name Deja in 2025?

Deja ranked #3,039 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 54 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Deja?

16,360 babies have been named Deja in the United States since 1962, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Deja most popular?

Deja peaked in 1996, when 1,647 newborns received the name.

Is Deja a boy or girl name?

Deja is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Deja rising or falling?

Deja is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Deja become more popular?

Deja is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 44 girls named Deja in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Names like Deja

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

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