Deena
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "of the religion".
Name Census estimates that about 11,383 living Americans carry the first name Deena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deena today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deena births was 1970 (593 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deena. 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 Deena with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,111 Americans
Peak year
1970
593 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1969 SSA rank
#4,533
Tracked since 1910
Census
Deena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,242 people with the first name Deena, which placed it at #2,171 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
#2,171
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
12,242 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deena is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.7%). 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 Deena 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 Deena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.5% · 9,851
- Black or African American6.1% · 742
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 572
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 507
- Two or more races3.8% · 462
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 108
Gender
Gender distribution for Deena
Out of the 13,644 babies given the name Deena since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Deena as a male name
- Ranked #4,533 in 1969
- 5 male births in 1969
- Peak: 1969 (5 births)
Deena as a female name
- Ranked #5,470 in 2024
- 23 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (593 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deena appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,237 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Deena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deena from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 3,783 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deena 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 Deena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Deena, while Maine, Hawaii, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 217 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deena
The name Deena has its origins in Arabic, derived from the word "din" which means religion or faith. It is a feminine variation of the masculine name "Din" or "Deen," and is commonly found in regions with significant Muslim populations.
The name gained popularity during the early days of Islam, as it symbolized a strong connection to the religious teachings and principles. It was often given to daughters in the hope that they would grow up to be devout and faithful followers of Islam.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Deena can be found in the works of Persian poets and writers from the 9th and 10th centuries. These literary works often featured characters with this name, reflecting its cultural significance at the time.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Deena. One of the most famous was Deena Abdelkader (1846-1923), an Egyptian writer and feminist who campaigned for women's rights and education in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another prominent figure was Deena Cohen (1859-1923), an American philanthropist and social worker who dedicated her life to improving the lives of immigrants and the underprivileged in New York City.
In the world of sports, Deena Kastor (born 1973) is a renowned American long-distance runner who holds several American records and has won numerous prestigious marathons and championships.
The name Deena also has a notable presence in the arts. Deena Dill (1939-2016) was an American writer and poet known for her works exploring themes of feminism, relationships, and personal identity.
Lastly, Deena Nayyar (born 1981) is an Indian actress and model who has starred in several Bollywood films and television series, contributing to the popularity of the name in the Indian subcontinent.
People
Deena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deena 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
Deena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,383 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deena 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 30,111 US residents.
Is Deena a common name?
We classify Deena as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,644 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deena most popular?
The single biggest year for Deena was 1970, when 593 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deena is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,242 people with the name Deena, or 4.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,171 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 Deena 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 Deena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deena appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,237 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Deena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deena is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (6.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.7%). 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 Deena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Deena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (9,851 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 Deena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deena 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.
Is Deena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deena 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 Deena 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 common is the name Deena?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Deena at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.