Desa
An Indian name meaning "village" or "rural area".
Name Census estimates that about 213 living Americans carry the first name Desa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Desa today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Desa births was 1978 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Desa. 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
213
~ 1 in 1,609,175 Americans
Peak year
1978
15 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2002 SSA rank
#14,067
Tracked since 1952
Census
Desa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 377 people with the first name Desa, which placed it at #25,213 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
#25,213
National first-name rank
People counted
377
377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Desa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Desa is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Desa 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 Desa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.5% · 262
- Black or African American14.9% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 16
- Two or more races4.0% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 6
Popularity
Desa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Desa from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 78 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Desa 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 Desa 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 Desa
The name Desa has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which dates back to ancient India. It is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word "desa," which means "country" or "region." This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with a particular geographical area or territory.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, there are references to the concept of "desa," which often referred to the physical world or the material realm. However, there is no specific mention of the name Desa itself in these scriptures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Desa can be found in the Gupta Empire, which ruled over large parts of the Indian subcontinent from the 4th to the 6th century CE. During this period, there were several notable individuals who bore the name Desa, including Desa Gupta, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 6th century CE.
In the medieval period, the name Desa gained popularity among various Hindu communities in India. One notable figure from this era was Desa Bhakta, a 15th-century Hindu saint and philosopher from Karnataka, who was known for his devotional poetry and teachings on bhakti (devotion to God).
Moving forward in time, the name Desa has been borne by several influential individuals throughout history. One such person was Desa Trevedi, an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was actively involved in the Indian independence movement and worked towards promoting education and social upliftment.
Another notable figure was Desa Sangvi, an Indian businessman and philanthropist who lived from 1924 to 2011. He founded the Sangvi Group, a successful business conglomerate, and was known for his philanthropic efforts in the fields of education and healthcare.
In the world of literature, Desa Basu was a Bengali writer and novelist who lived from 1928 to 2001. He was a prominent figure in the literary circles of West Bengal and is best known for his novels that explored themes of social and political change.
Desa Acharya, born in 1940, is a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She has made significant contributions to the field of Odissi dance and has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Desa throughout history, highlighting its rich cultural heritage and diverse backgrounds.
People
Desa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Desa 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
Desa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Desa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 213 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Desa 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 1,609,175 US residents.
Is Desa a common name?
We classify Desa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 239 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Desa most popular?
The single biggest year for Desa was 1978, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Desa is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Desa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 377 people with the name Desa, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,213 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 Desa 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 Desa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Desa leans strongly female. 368 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 13 male bearers (3.4%). 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 Desa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Desa is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Desa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Desa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.5% (262 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 Desa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Desa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Desa 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 Desa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Desa 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 Desa 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 Desa?
See how many Americans are named Desa on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.