Deema
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "light rain" or "fine rain".
Name Census estimates that about 615 living Americans carry the first name Deema. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deema today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deema births was 2016 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deema. 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
615
~ 1 in 557,324 Americans
Peak year
2016
35 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,646
Tracked since 1988
Popularity
Deema: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deema from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 258 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Deema remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deema 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 Deema during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deemas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Deema
The name Deema has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is believed to have derived from the Arabic word "dima," which means "everlasting" or "eternal." The name's earliest recorded usage dates back to the 7th century, during the rise of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language across the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Deema can be found in Islamic literary texts from the medieval period. It was sometimes used as a symbolic name, representing the idea of everlasting faith or the eternal nature of the divine. However, it was also a common given name for girls born during that time.
In the 10th century, there are records of a poet named Deema bint al-Mu'tazz, who was known for her eloquent verses and influential literary works. She lived in the Abbasid court in Baghdad and was highly regarded for her contributions to Arabic literature.
Another notable figure with the name Deema was Deema al-Jadiriyya, a 13th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from present-day Iraq. She was renowned for her spiritual teachings and her extensive knowledge of Islamic theology and philosophy.
In the 15th century, Deema al-Zahiri was a prominent female Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus, Syria. She was highly respected for her expertise in Islamic law and her contributions to the field of Sharia jurisprudence.
During the 16th century, Deema bint Abi al-Khair was a renowned calligrapher and artist from the Ottoman Empire. Her intricate calligraphic works and illuminated manuscripts were highly prized and exhibited in various imperial courts across the region.
While the name Deema has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has since been adopted and used in various parts of the world, particularly in regions with significant Arabic-speaking populations or those influenced by Arabic culture and traditions.
People
Deema + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deema 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
Deema: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deema?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 615 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deema 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 557,324 US residents.
Is Deema a common name?
We classify Deema as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deema most popular?
The single biggest year for Deema was 2016, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deema is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Deema a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deema in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.