Debs
A diminutive form of the feminine name Deborah, meaning "bee" in Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Debs. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Debs today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Debs births was 1912 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Debs. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Debs. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1912
9 babies that year
Average age
-
1921 SSA rank
#3,964
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Debs: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Debs from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 9 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Debs remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Debs 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 Debs during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Debs
The name Debs is a diminutive form of the name Deborah, which is derived from the Hebrew name Devorah. Devorah is composed of the Hebrew word "devorah," meaning "bee," and the suffix "-ah," denoting the feminine form. The name Deborah is first mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible as the name of a prophetess and judge who led the Israelites against the Canaanites in the 12th century BC.
In the Book of Judges, Deborah is described as a wise and courageous leader who, along with Barak, helped defeat the Canaanite army led by Sisera. Her victory song, known as the "Song of Deborah," is one of the oldest examples of Hebrew poetry and is recorded in the Bible. This biblical reference has made the name Deborah, and its various forms, a popular choice among Jewish and Christian families throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Debs can be found in the life of Eugene V. Debs, an American union leader and political activist who lived from 1855 to 1926. Debs was a prominent figure in the labor movement and ran for the presidency of the United States five times as the candidate of the Socialist Party of America.
Another notable figure with the name Debs was Debs Howard, an American actress and dancer who rose to fame in the 1930s and 1940s. She appeared in several Broadway musicals and films, including "George White's Scandals" and "The Gang's All Here."
In the world of sports, Debs Garms was a professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1940s and 1950s. She was one of the league's most talented players and helped popularize women's baseball during that era.
Debs Gardner was a British actress and singer who performed in various stage productions in the mid-20th century. She is known for her roles in musicals such as "The Merry Widow" and "The Desert Song."
Lastly, Debs Mukherjee was an Indian social activist and politician who served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's Parliament, from 1999 to 2004. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and worked tirelessly to uplift marginalized communities in her home state of West Bengal.
People
Debs + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Debs 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
Debs: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Debs?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Debs 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 - US residents.
Is Debs a common name?
We classify Debs as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Debs most popular?
The single biggest year for Debs was 1912, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Debs is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Debs in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Debs a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Debs 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 Debs still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Debs 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 Debs 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Debs as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.