Demaris
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "wife" or "lady".
Name Census estimates that about 881 living Americans carry the first name Demaris. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Demaris today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Demaris births was 1987 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Demaris. 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
881
~ 1 in 389,051 Americans
Peak year
1987
26 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,968
Tracked since 1914
Census
Demaris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,054 people with the first name Demaris, which placed it at #11,975 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
#11,975
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,054 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
40.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Demaris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demaris is Black at 40.6%. The next largest groups are White (34.3%) and Hispanic (19.4%). 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 Demaris 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 Demaris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American40.6% · 428
- White34.3% · 362
- Hispanic or Latino19.4% · 204
- Two or more races3.3% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Demaris
Demaris is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,304 total registrations, 286 (21.9%) were male and 1,018 (78.1%) were female.
Demaris as a male name
- Ranked #9,968 in 2021
- 7 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1987 (17 births)
Demaris as a female name
- Ranked #11,629 in 2019
- 8 female births in 2019
- Peak: 1952 (25 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Demaris on both sides of the split. Of the 1,053 people counted with this name, 301 were male (28.6%) and 752 were female (71.4%).
Popularity
Demaris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Demaris from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 174 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
Demaris 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 Demaris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Demaris' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Demaris, while Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Demaris
The name Demaris has its origins in Greek mythology and culture. It is a feminine name derived from the Greek word "demaratos," which means "populace leader" or "popular leader." This name was likely given to women who were born into influential or respected families within the ancient Greek society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Demaris can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Plutarch. He mentions a woman named Demaris who lived in the 4th century BC and was known for her wisdom and leadership qualities.
During the Byzantine era, the name Demaris was associated with several notable figures. Demaris of Ephesus (c. 320 AD) was a Christian martyr who was executed for her beliefs during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Demaris of Constantinople (c. 450 AD) was a renowned scholar and philosopher who contributed significantly to the intellectual discourse of her time.
In the Middle Ages, the name Demaris gained popularity among the nobility and upper classes in various European countries. One notable figure was Demaris of Aquitaine (c. 1050), a powerful duchess who played a crucial role in the political affairs of her region.
As the centuries passed, the name Demaris continued to be used, albeit less frequently. Demaris Rousseau (1712-1778) was a French philosopher and writer who advocated for women's education and equality. Demaris Cartwright (1857-1944) was a British actress and suffragette who campaigned tirelessly for women's right to vote.
Other notable individuals with the name Demaris include Demaris Meyer (1909-1998), an American author and journalist known for her work on gender and social issues, and Demaris Reveley (1929-2019), a British artist and sculptor whose works explored abstract and figurative forms.
Throughout its long history, the name Demaris has been associated with strong, influential, and pioneering women who have left their mark on various fields, from philosophy and literature to art and politics.
People
Demaris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Demaris 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
Demaris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Demaris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 881 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Demaris 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 389,051 US residents.
Is Demaris a common name?
We classify Demaris as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,304 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Demaris most popular?
The single biggest year for Demaris was 1987, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Demaris is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Demaris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,054 people with the name Demaris, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,975 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 Demaris 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 Demaris?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Demaris on both sides of the split. Of the 1,053 people counted with this name, 301 were male (28.6%) and 752 were female (71.4%). 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 Demaris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demaris is Black at 40.6%. The next largest groups are White (34.3%) and Hispanic (19.4%). 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 Demaris most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Demaris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.6% (428 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 Demaris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Demaris a female name?
Yes, 78.1% of people registered as Demaris 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 Demaris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Demaris 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 Demaris 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 Demaris?
You can see how many people have the name Demaris on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.