Demeris
A feminine Greek name meaning close friend.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Demeris. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Demeris today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Demeris births was 1999 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Demeris. 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 Demeris. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1999
5 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
1999 SSA rank
#10,292
Tracked since 1999
Census
Demeris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138 people with the first name Demeris, which placed it at #47,373 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
#47,373
National first-name rank
People counted
138
138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
63.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Demeris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demeris is Black at 63.8%. The next largest groups are White (21.0%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Demeris 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 Demeris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American63.8% · 88
- White21.0% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 11
- Two or more races5.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 2
Popularity
Demeris: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Demeris 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 Demeris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Demeris
The name Demeris has its origins in ancient Greece, rooted in the Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek word "dēmētrios," which means "follower of Demeter," the goddess of agriculture, grain, and fertility.
In Greek mythology, Demeter was a revered deity associated with the bountiful harvest and the cycles of life. The name Demeris symbolized a connection to the earth and its natural abundance, reflecting the significance of agriculture in ancient Greek society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Demeris can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. He mentions a man named Demetrius, a variant spelling of Demeris, in his historical accounts.
During the Hellenistic period, which lasted from the 4th to the 1st century BC, the name Demeris gained popularity among the Greek-speaking population. Several notable figures from this era bore the name, including Demetrius I Soter, a Greco-Bactrian king who ruled parts of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan from around 200 to 180 BC.
In the early Christian era, the name Demeris was adopted by some followers of the faith. One notable example is Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki, a 4th-century martyr and patron saint of Thessaloniki, Greece, who was venerated for his unwavering belief and courage.
Throughout the Byzantine Empire, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th century, the name Demeris remained in use. One prominent figure was Demetrius Chalcondyles, a 15th-century Byzantine Greek scholar and teacher who played a significant role in the revival of Greek learning in the Renaissance period.
During the Renaissance and the subsequent centuries, the name Demeris continued to be used, particularly in Greek communities and among those influenced by classical Greek culture. Some notable individuals bearing the name include Demetrius Phalereus, a 4th-century BC Athenian orator, statesman, and philosopher, and Demetrius of Phalerum, a 3rd-century BC Greek grammarian and critic.
In more recent times, several individuals with the name Demeris have achieved recognition in various fields. These include Demetris Christofias, a former President of Cyprus (1946-present), Demetris Nikolaidis, a Greek playwright and novelist (1938-present), and Demetris Robertson, a former professional basketball player from the United States (1972-present).
People
Demeris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Demeris 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
Demeris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Demeris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Demeris 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 Demeris a common name?
We classify Demeris 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 Demeris most popular?
The single biggest year for Demeris was 1999, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Demeris is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Demeris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138 people with the name Demeris, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,373 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 Demeris 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 Demeris?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Demeris on both sides of the split. Of the 129 people counted with this name, 61 were male (47.3%) and 68 were female (52.7%). 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 Demeris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demeris is Black at 63.8%. The next largest groups are White (21.0%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Demeris most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Demeris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.8% (88 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 Demeris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Demeris a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Demeris 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 Demeris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Demeris 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 Demeris 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 Demeris?
See how many people have the name Demeris on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.