Demas
A name of Greek origin meaning "to subdue" or "to tame".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Demas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Demas today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Demas births was 2000 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Demas. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Demas. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2000
5 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2000 SSA rank
#10,787
Tracked since 2000
Census
Demas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 146 people with the first name Demas, which placed it at #46,062 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
#46,062
National first-name rank
People counted
146
146 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Demas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demas is Hispanic at 42.5%. The next largest groups are White (28.1%) and Black (19.2%). 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 Demas 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 Demas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.5% · 62
- White28.1% · 41
- Black or African American19.2% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.8% · 10
- Two or more races3.4% · 5
Popularity
Demas: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Demas 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 Demas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Demas
The given name Demas has its origins in Greek culture and language. It is derived from the Greek word "demas," which means "body" or "corporeal form." The name can be traced back to ancient Greek times, potentially as early as the 5th century BC.
Demas is mentioned in the Bible, specifically in the New Testament book of Colossians. In Colossians 4:14, the apostle Paul refers to a person named Demas as one of his fellow workers. However, in 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul states that Demas has forsaken him, having loved this present world. This biblical reference suggests that Demas was a contemporary of Paul during the 1st century AD.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Demas was Demas of Philippi, a Greek grammarian who lived in the 3rd century BC. He is known for his work on the Iliad and Odyssey, and his commentary on the works of Homer.
Another notable figure with the name Demas was Demas of Miletus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 2nd century AD. He was a follower of the Stoic school of philosophy and is credited with writing several treatises on ethics and moral philosophy.
In the 4th century AD, there was a Christian martyr named Demas who was executed during the reign of Emperor Diocletian for refusing to renounce his faith. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
During the Byzantine era, Demas Exiguus, also known as Dionysius Exiguus, was a 6th-century Scythian monk who is notable for introducing the practice of dating events using the Anno Domini (A.D.) calendar era. He is also credited with compiling a collection of canons and decrees from various church councils.
In more recent history, Demas Rudolph Nwoko, born in 1935, was a Nigerian artist and sculptor known for his work in promoting traditional African art and culture. He founded the Nwoko Arts Studio and is recognized for his contributions to the development of modern Nigerian art.
People
Demas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Demas 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
Demas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Demas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Demas 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Demas a common name?
We classify Demas as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Demas most popular?
The single biggest year for Demas was 2000, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Demas 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 Demas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 146 people with the name Demas, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,062 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 Demas 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 Demas?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Demas leans strongly male. 130 people counted with this name were male (94.2%), compared with 8 female bearers (5.8%). 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 Demas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demas is Hispanic at 42.5%. The next largest groups are White (28.1%) and Black (19.2%). 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 Demas most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Demas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.5% (62 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 Demas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Demas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Demas 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 Demas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Demas 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 Demas 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 Americans are named Demas?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.