Dejah
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "Midday" or "Morning/Afternoon".
Name Census estimates that about 3,097 living Americans carry the first name Dejah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dejah today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dejah births was 1999 (341 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dejah. 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 Dejah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 110,673 Americans
Peak year
1999
341 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
1998 SSA rank
#7,304
Tracked since 1973
Census
Dejah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,545 people with the first name Dejah, which placed it at #6,336 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
#6,336
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,545 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dejah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dejah is Black at 68.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.2%) and Two or More Races (9.6%). 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 Dejah 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 Dejah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.6% · 1,747
- White11.2% · 286
- Two or more races9.6% · 244
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 232
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Dejah
Out of the 3,168 babies given the name Dejah since 1880, 99.8% 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.
Dejah as a male name
- Ranked #9,978 in 1998
- 5 male births in 1998
- Peak: 1998 (5 births)
Dejah as a female name
- Ranked #7,304 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (341 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dejah appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,545 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Dejah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dejah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,294 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dejah 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 Dejah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dejahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Dejah, while Kentucky, Tennessee, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 72 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dejah
The given name Dejah is believed to have originated from the fictional novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the American author famous for creating the Barsoom series, which includes the popular John Carter of Mars stories. In these science fiction tales set on the planet Mars, Dejah Thoris is the princess of the Martian city-state of Helium and the love interest of the earthman John Carter.
Burroughs first introduced the character of Dejah Thoris in his 1912 novel A Princess of Mars, which served as the basis for the names Dejah and Thoris. While the name Thoris has roots in ancient Norse mythology, the etymology of Dejah is less clear, as it appears to be a fictional construct created by Burroughs himself.
Despite its fictional origins, the name Dejah has gained some popularity over the years, particularly among fans of Burroughs' Barsoom series. One notable person with the name Dejah is Dejah Monique Lanedress, an American model and actress born in 1991.
In the realm of literature, the character of Dejah Thoris from Burroughs' novels has become an iconic figure, inspiring numerous adaptations and tributes across various media. Lynn Collins portrayed Dejah Thoris in the 2012 film John Carter, while Traci Lords voiced the character in the 2009 animated movie Princess of Mars.
Beyond the world of fiction, the name Dejah has been used by a few individuals throughout history. Dejah Monique Raphael, an American singer and songwriter, was born in 1987. Dejah Amile Hall, an American artist and illustrator, was born in 1983.
While not a common name, Dejah has left its mark on popular culture, thanks to its association with Edgar Rice Burroughs' influential science fiction works. Its unique and exotic sound has captured the imagination of fans and artists alike, ensuring that this fictional name continues to be remembered and celebrated.
People
Dejah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dejah 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
Dejah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dejah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,097 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dejah 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 110,673 US residents.
Is Dejah a common name?
We classify Dejah as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,168 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dejah most popular?
The single biggest year for Dejah was 1999, when 341 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dejah is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dejah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,545 people with the name Dejah, or 0.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,336 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 Dejah 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 Dejah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dejah appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,545 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Dejah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dejah is Black at 68.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.2%) and Two or More Races (9.6%). 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 Dejah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dejah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.6% (1,747 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 Dejah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dejah a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Dejah 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 Dejah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dejah 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 Dejah 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 have the name Dejah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.