Desmond
Desmond was given to 839 boys in 2025, #376 among boys’ names; 40,264 Americans have been recorded with it since 1904 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 37,900 Americans named Desmond and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (94% of everyone recorded); the median is 24 years old and half are between 11 and 36.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Desmond by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Desmond mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Desmond is “a male given name transferred from the surname; popular in Britain in the first half of the twentieth century.”
From Irish Ó Deasmhumhnaigh.
/ˈdɛzmənd/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Desmond?
#376 among boys’ names, 2025
Desmond fell from #351 in 2015 to #376 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.50 to 0.49 per 1,000.
1,080 babies in 1992, the peak
Desmond peaked in 1992, when 1,080 babies were given it (1,069 boys, #264 among boys’ names). The 839 births of 2025 are 78% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 839 | #376 | 0.49 |
| 2024 | 891 | #368 | 0.52 |
| 2023 | 797 | #399 | 0.47 |
| 2022 | 907 | #363 | 0.52 |
| 2021 | 920 | #354 | 0.53 |
| 2020 | 862 | #361 | 0.50 |
| 2019 | 863 | #369 | 0.48 |
| 2018 | 1,030 | #324 | 0.57 |
| 2017 | 1,047 | #327 | 0.57 |
| 2016 | 894 | #371 | 0.47 |
Every recorded year (118)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 962 | #351 | 0.50 |
| 2014 | 1,035 | #330 | 0.54 |
| 2013 | 984 | #329 | 0.52 |
| 2012 | 924 | #339 | 0.49 |
| 2011 | 843 | #355 | 0.44 |
| 2010 | 878 | #349 | 0.46 |
| 2009 | 789 | #383 | 0.40 |
| 2008 | 720 | #412 | 0.35 |
| 2007 | 676 | #425 | 0.33 |
| 2006 | 583 | #463 | 0.28 |
| 2005 | 530 | #472 | 0.27 |
| 2004 | 543 | #466 | 0.27 |
| 2003 | 556 | #454 | 0.28 |
| 2002 | 584 | #422 | 0.30 |
| 2001 | 636 | #397 | 0.33 |
| 2000 | 699 | #375 | 0.36 |
| 1999 | 742 | #351 | 0.39 |
| 1998 | 741 | #352 | 0.39 |
| 1997 | 885 | #308 | 0.47 |
| 1996 | 626 | #375 | 0.33 |
| 1995 | 667 | #361 | 0.35 |
| 1994 | 670 | #359 | 0.35 |
| 1993 | 752 | #336 | 0.38 |
| 1992 | 1,069 | #264 | 0.54 |
| 1991 | 835 | #308 | 0.41 |
| 1990 | 871 | #287 | 0.42 |
| 1989 | 759 | #315 | 0.38 |
| 1988 | 692 | #316 | 0.36 |
| 1987 | 594 | #339 | 0.32 |
| 1986 | 676 | #302 | 0.37 |
| 1985 | 677 | #301 | 0.37 |
| 1984 | 376 | #430 | 0.21 |
| 1983 | 355 | #441 | 0.20 |
| 1982 | 356 | #454 | 0.20 |
| 1981 | 387 | #423 | 0.22 |
| 1980 | 528 | #347 | 0.30 |
| 1979 | 443 | #383 | 0.26 |
| 1978 | 528 | #332 | 0.32 |
| 1977 | 370 | #407 | 0.23 |
| 1976 | 257 | #497 | 0.16 |
| 1975 | 240 | #519 | 0.15 |
| 1974 | 313 | #447 | 0.20 |
| 1973 | 279 | #469 | 0.18 |
| 1972 | 246 | #501 | 0.15 |
| 1971 | 225 | #534 | 0.13 |
| 1970 | 165 | #630 | 0.09 |
| 1969 | 132 | #687 | 0.07 |
| 1968 | 127 | #666 | 0.07 |
| 1967 | 148 | #615 | 0.08 |
| 1966 | 121 | #673 | 0.07 |
| 1965 | 124 | #666 | 0.07 |
| 1964 | 134 | #665 | 0.07 |
| 1963 | 117 | #723 | 0.06 |
| 1962 | 100 | #764 | 0.05 |
| 1961 | 92 | #792 | 0.04 |
| 1960 | 85 | #826 | 0.04 |
| 1959 | 60 | #995 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 43 | #1,175 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 49 | #1,091 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 56 | #1,000 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 62 | #951 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 65 | #922 | 0.03 |
| 1953 | 44 | #1,109 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 33 | #1,298 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 43 | #1,097 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 37 | #1,189 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 26 | #1,443 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 29 | #1,353 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 36 | #1,217 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 31 | #1,263 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 23 | #1,387 | 0.02 |
| 1944 | 21 | #1,493 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 23 | #1,468 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 18 | #1,694 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 25 | #1,339 | 0.02 |
| 1940 | 15 | #1,822 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 21 | #1,463 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 23 | #1,404 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 23 | #1,417 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 17 | #1,658 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 24 | #1,396 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 16 | #1,797 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 22 | #1,468 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 29 | #1,265 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 34 | #1,176 | 0.03 |
| 1930 | 29 | #1,342 | 0.03 |
| 1929 | 28 | #1,347 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 28 | #1,394 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 33 | #1,280 | 0.03 |
| 1926 | 50 | #968 | 0.05 |
| 1925 | 33 | #1,259 | 0.03 |
| 1924 | 40 | #1,138 | 0.04 |
| 1923 | 52 | #956 | 0.05 |
| 1922 | 66 | #842 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 30 | #1,370 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 20 | #1,771 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 15 | #2,082 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 23 | #1,554 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 22 | #1,542 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 30 | #1,216 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 19 | #1,616 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 16 | #1,566 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 17 | #1,271 | 0.03 |
| 1912 | 9 | #1,775 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,804 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 8 | #1,227 | 0.04 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,251 | 0.04 |
| 1904 | 8 | #900 | 0.06 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Desmond a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Desmond has been given almost only to boys: 233 girls in 118 years of records.
Girls and boys named Desmond: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Desmond, and how old are they?
37,900 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 94% of the 40,264 Americans ever recorded as Desmond. The median Desmond alive today is 24 years old; half are between 11 and 36.
The 2020 Census counted 30,864 people named Desmond (237 women and girls, 30,627 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 33,385 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 75 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 802 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,850 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 9,990 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 11,200 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 11,900 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Desmond born?
The states with the most babies named Desmond are California, Texas and Washington, with 25% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Washington is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 104 | #342 | 0.7× |
| Texas | 48 | #633 | 0.8× |
| Washington | 48 | #182 | 1.1× |
| New York | 45 | #388 | 1.0× |
| Massachusetts | 38 | #179 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 31 | #356 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 30 | #354 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 29 | #383 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 23 | #685 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 23 | #381 | 1.2× |
Where Desmond is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Desmond is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 2.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Desmond with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 40,389 babies since 1880, Desmond is the most given (100% of them). In 2025 it was given to 839 of their 839 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Desmond
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Desmond and names like it
- Compare Desmond and DesmundBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sDesmond peaked in 1992.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Desmond since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Desmond: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1992The year the most babies were named Desmond.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Desmond alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with DMost given first.