Deen
An Arabic masculine name meaning "faith", "creed", or "way of life".
Name Census estimates that about 902 living Americans carry the first name Deen. It is a predominantly male name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Deen today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deen births was 2023 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deen. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Deen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
902
~ 1 in 379,994 Americans
Peak year
2023
84 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,133
Tracked since 1946
Census
Deen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 851 people with the first name Deen, which placed it at #13,989 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,989
National first-name rank
People counted
851
851 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deen is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.3%) and Black (11.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Deen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Deen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.8% · 424
- Asian and Pacific Islander25.3% · 215
- Black or African American11.9% · 101
- Two or more races9.2% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Deen
Out of the 920 babies given the name Deen since 1880, 99.5% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Deen as a male name
- Ranked #2,133 in 2024
- 69 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (84 births)
Deen as a female name
- Ranked #5,598 in 1951
- 5 female births in 1951
- Peak: 1951 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deen leans strongly male. 783 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 70 female bearers (8.2%).
Popularity
Deen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deen from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 392 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deen 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 Deen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Deen, while Florida, Virginia, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deen
The name Deen has its origins in Arabic and Islamic culture, with roots dating back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "deen," which means "religion" or "way of life." This name reflects the significance of faith and spiritual guidance in Islamic traditions.
In the Quran, the holy book of Islam, the term "deen" is frequently used to refer to the religion of Islam and the principles that govern a righteous way of living. The name Deen symbolizes adherence to these principles and a commitment to the Islamic faith.
The earliest recorded use of the name Deen can be traced back to the early Islamic era, when it was given to individuals who were deeply devoted to their faith or played a significant role in the propagation of Islam. However, specific historical records of individuals bearing this name from that time period are scarce.
One of the notable historical figures with the name Deen was Deen Muhammad (1934-2008), an influential African-American Muslim leader and the former leader of the Nation of Islam. He played a pivotal role in transitioning the organization towards mainstream Sunni Islam.
Another prominent individual with this name was Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (1916-1968), an Indian politician, philosopher, and co-founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a major political party in India. He is remembered for his contributions to the development of the concept of "Integral Humanism."
In the realm of literature, Deen Mohammad Aazad (1880-1948) was a renowned Urdu poet and writer from British India. He is celebrated for his literary works, which often explored themes of social reform and religious harmony.
Deen Iere (1924-2015) was a prominent Nigerian writer and playwright, known for his contributions to the development of African theater and literature. His plays often tackled issues of cultural identity and societal change.
Deen Mahomed (1759-1851) was an influential figure in the introduction of Indian cuisine and Ayurvedic medicine to Britain. He is credited with opening one of the first Indian restaurants in London and publishing the first book on Indian cuisine in the English language.
While the name Deen has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has been adopted and used across various regions and communities, reflecting the diverse cultural influences and interactions throughout history.
People
Deen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deen 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
Deen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 902 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deen 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 379,994 US residents.
Is Deen a common name?
We classify Deen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 920 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deen most popular?
The single biggest year for Deen was 2023, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deen is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 851 people with the name Deen, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,989 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Deen in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Deen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deen leans strongly male. 783 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 70 female bearers (8.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Deen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deen is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.3%) and Black (11.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Deen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Deen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (424 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Deen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deen a male name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Deen 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 Deen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deen 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 Deen 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.
How many people are named Deen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.