Deon
Masc. name from Greek meaning "divine, god-related".
Name Census estimates that about 15,595 living Americans carry the first name Deon. It is a predominantly male name (90.1% of registrations). The average person named Deon today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deon births was 1994 (471 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deon. 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 Deon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,978 Americans
Peak year
1994
471 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,309
Tracked since 1913
Census
Deon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,865 people with the first name Deon, which placed it at #2,094 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
#2,094
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,865 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deon is Black at 73.5%. The next largest groups are White (12.6%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Deon 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 Deon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.5% · 9,456
- White12.6% · 1,625
- Two or more races6.4% · 829
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 569
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 225
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 161
Gender
Gender distribution for Deon
Deon leans heavily male at 90.1% of total registrations, but 1,670 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Deon as a male name
- Ranked #1,309 in 2024
- 148 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (456 births)
Deon as a female name
- Ranked #15,778 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1971 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deon leans strongly male. 11,326 people counted with this name were male (88.1%), compared with 1,532 female bearers (11.9%).
Popularity
Deon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deon 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 3,799 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
Deon 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 Deon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Illinois, Michigan recorded the most babies named Deon, while Nevada, Idaho, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 341 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deon
The name Deon originated from the ancient Greek language and is derived from the word "Dion," which means "of Zeus" or "divine." It has its roots in Greek mythology, where Zeus was the supreme god of the Olympian pantheon.
Deon was a relatively common name among the ancient Greeks, particularly in the regions of mainland Greece and the Aegean islands. It can be found in various historical records and literary works from the classical period, such as the writings of Herodotus and Plutarch.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Deon can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who lived from around 428 BCE to 348 BCE. Plato mentions a character named Deon in his dialogue "The Republic."
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Deon. One of the most famous was Dion of Syracuse (408 BCE - 354 BCE), a Greek philosopher and tyrant who ruled over the city of Syracuse in Sicily. Another well-known figure was Dion Cassius (155 CE - 235 CE), a Roman historian who wrote an extensive work on the history of Rome.
In the Middle Ages, the name Deon was used by various European rulers and nobility. For example, Deon of Toulouse (c. 1050 - c. 1120) was a French nobleman and crusader who participated in the First Crusade. Additionally, Deon of Nantes (c. 1130 - c. 1200) was a French bishop and chronicler who wrote about the events of his time.
During the Renaissance period, the name Deon was associated with several artists and scholars. One notable figure was Deon Battista Alberti (1404 - 1472), an Italian Renaissance humanist, author, artist, architect, and philosopher.
In more recent history, the name Deon has been used by various individuals from different backgrounds. For instance, Deon Sanders (born 1967) is an American former professional football player and current sports analyst. Deon Jackson (born 1983) is an American professional basketball player.
People
Deon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deon 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
Deon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,595 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deon 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 21,978 US residents.
Is Deon a common name?
We classify Deon as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,855 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deon most popular?
The single biggest year for Deon was 1994, when 471 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deon is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,865 people with the name Deon, or 4.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,094 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 Deon 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 Deon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deon leans strongly male. 11,326 people counted with this name were male (88.1%), compared with 1,532 female bearers (11.9%). 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 Deon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deon is Black at 73.5%. The next largest groups are White (12.6%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Deon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Deon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.5% (9,456 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 Deon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deon a male name?
Yes, 90.1% of people registered as Deon 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 Deon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deon 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 Deon 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 Deon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.