Dejean
Of Greek origin meaning "of Zeus" or "divine king".
Name Census estimates that about 194 living Americans carry the first name Dejean. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dejean today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dejean births was 1999 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dejean. 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 Dejean with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
194
~ 1 in 1,766,775 Americans
Peak year
1999
17 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,191
Tracked since 1982
Census
Dejean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 253 people with the first name Dejean, which placed it at #32,947 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
#32,947
National first-name rank
People counted
253
253 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dejean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dejean is Black at 78.7%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Dejean 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 Dejean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.7% · 199
- White7.1% · 18
- Two or more races6.7% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
Popularity
Dejean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dejean from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 79 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dejean 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 Dejean 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 Dejean
The given name Dejean has its origins in the French language. It is believed to have originated in the late 16th or early 17th century, derived from the Old French word "dej??ner," meaning "to break one's fast" or "to have breakfast."
In its earliest form, the name was likely a surname bestowed upon individuals who had a reputation for being late risers or those who placed great importance on the morning meal. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, particularly among French families.
One of the earliest known references to the name Dejean can be found in the records of the French nobility from the 17th century. It was borne by Jean-Baptiste Dejean, a French military officer and nobleman who served as a lieutenant general under King Louis XIV. He was born in 1655 and died in 1727.
Another notable figure with the name Dejean was Pierre Francois Marie Auguste Dejean, a French entomologist and general who lived from 1780 to 1845. He made significant contributions to the study of beetles and was a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
In the realm of literature, the name Dejean appears in the works of French writer Honoré de Balzac. One of his characters, a banker named Dejean, is featured in the novel "Père Goriot," published in 1835.
During the 19th century, the name Dejean gained some prominence in France, particularly among the upper classes. One such individual was Étienne Dejean, a French politician and statesman who served as the Minister of War under King Louis-Philippe. He was born in 1765 and died in 1846.
Another noteworthy bearer of the name was Louis Dejean, a French architect and urban planner who lived from 1822 to 1907. He was responsible for designing several prestigious buildings and public spaces in Paris, including the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont.
While the name Dejean has French roots, it has also been adopted by families in other parts of the world, particularly in regions with strong French cultural influences. However, its usage as a given name remains most prevalent in France and among French-speaking communities.
People
Dejean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dejean 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
Dejean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dejean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dejean 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 1,766,775 US residents.
Is Dejean a common name?
We classify Dejean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 198 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dejean most popular?
The single biggest year for Dejean was 1999, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dejean is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dejean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 253 people with the name Dejean, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,947 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 Dejean 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 Dejean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dejean leans strongly male. 220 people counted with this name were male (88.0%), compared with 30 female bearers (12.0%). 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 Dejean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dejean is Black at 78.7%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Dejean most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dejean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.7% (199 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 Dejean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dejean a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dejean 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 Dejean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dejean 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 Dejean 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 share the name Dejean?
Find out how many Americans are named Dejean on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.