Demaya
Of Latin origin, potentially meaning "from the earth" or "earthly".
Name Census estimates that about 280 living Americans carry the first name Demaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Demaya today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Demaya births was 2006 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Demaya. 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
280
~ 1 in 1,224,123 Americans
Peak year
2006
23 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,582
Tracked since 1995
Census
Demaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Demaya, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Demaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demaya is Black at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Demaya 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 Demaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.4% · 207
- Two or more races4.8% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 7
- White0.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Demaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Demaya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 123 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
Demaya 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 Demaya 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 Demaya
The name Demaya has its origins in the ancient Indian Sanskrit language, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "deva," meaning "divine" or "celestial," and "maya," which translates to "illusion" or "magic." The name was initially associated with Hindu mythology and the concept of the divine cosmic illusion or the veil of illusion that separates humans from the ultimate reality.
In Hinduism, the name Demaya was sometimes used as an epithet or descriptor for deities, particularly those associated with creation, illusion, and the dance of life. It was believed that the world we perceive is a manifestation of the divine play or "lila," and the name Demaya represented this idea of the divine cosmic drama.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Demaya can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts from the Indian subcontinent. One notable example is the Puranas, a vast collection of Hindu mythological and spiritual texts composed between the 3rd and 10th centuries CE. In these texts, the name Demaya is occasionally mentioned in reference to deities or as a symbolic representation of the divine illusion.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Demaya. One of the earliest recorded figures was Demaya Nath, a Hindu saint and religious scholar who lived in the 11th century CE in what is now the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. He was known for his philosophical teachings and his contributions to the Nath tradition of Hinduism.
Another significant figure was Demaya Bharati, a renowned Indian poet and scholar who lived during the 16th century CE. She was celebrated for her mastery of Sanskrit literature and her poetic works, which explored themes of spirituality, philosophy, and the human condition.
In the realm of art and culture, Demaya Devi was a notable Indian classical dancer and choreographer of the 18th century. She was renowned for her contributions to the Kathak dance form and her efforts in preserving and promoting traditional Indian dance styles.
One of the most prominent historical figures with the name Demaya was Demaya Kumari, a princess and political leader from the Indian state of Rajasthan in the early 20th century. She played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement and was known for her advocacy of women's rights and social reform.
Another noteworthy individual was Demaya Singh, a valiant warrior and military commander who lived in the 17th century during the Mughal era in India. He was celebrated for his bravery and tactical prowess in numerous battles, earning him a reputation as a formidable leader.
People
Demaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Demaya 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
Demaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Demaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Demaya 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 1,224,123 US residents.
Is Demaya a common name?
We classify Demaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 284 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Demaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Demaya was 2006, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Demaya is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Demaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Demaya, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Demaya 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 Demaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Demaya appears almost entirely female. Of the 223 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Demaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demaya is Black at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Demaya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Demaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (207 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 Demaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Demaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Demaya 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 Demaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Demaya 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 Demaya 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 Demaya?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Demaya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.