Desdemona
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "ill-fated" or "unfortunate".
Name Census estimates that about 30 living Americans carry the first name Desdemona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Desdemona today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Desdemona births was 2017 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Desdemona. 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 Desdemona. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
30
~ 1 in 11,425,145 Americans
Peak year
2017
8 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2017 SSA rank
#11,934
Tracked since 1904
Popularity
Desdemona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Desdemona from the 1900s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 17 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Desdemona remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Desdemona 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 Desdemona 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 Desdemona
The name Desdemona has its roots in Greek and Latin origins. It is derived from the Greek word "desdemonas," which means "ill-fated" or "unfortunate one." The name is also believed to have connections to the Latin word "desiderium," meaning "longing" or "desire."
Desdemona is perhaps most famously associated with the tragic character of the same name in William Shakespeare's play "Othello," written around 1603. In the play, Desdemona is the wife of the Moorish general Othello, and her untimely death at the hands of her husband serves as the climax of the tragic tale.
The earliest recorded use of the name Desdemona dates back to the 16th century, with the publication of Shakespeare's play. However, it is possible that the name existed in some form before that, as many names and words from classical Greek and Latin were revived during the Renaissance period.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Desdemona was Desdemona Underwood, an English actress born in 1592. She was a contemporary of Shakespeare and may have been the inspiration for the name's use in "Othello."
Another notable Desdemona was Desdemona Quintanilla, a Mexican-American singer and songwriter born in 1935. She was known for her contributions to the Tejano music genre and was inducted into the Tejano Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
In the 19th century, there was Desdemona Worboise, an English writer and poet born in 1837. She was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite literary circle and wrote several novels and collections of poetry.
Desdemona Ballard, born in 1858, was an American educator and activist who worked to promote education and civil rights for African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another notable figure was Desdemona Aubrey, an English actress and singer born in 1899. She had a successful career on the London stage and appeared in several films during the early days of British cinema.
While the name Desdemona is not as common today as it was in the past, it has maintained a place in literary and historical significance, with its tragic associations and classical origins adding to its enduring appeal.
People
Desdemona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Desdemona 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
Desdemona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Desdemona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Desdemona 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 11,425,145 US residents.
Is Desdemona a common name?
We classify Desdemona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 43 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Desdemona most popular?
The single biggest year for Desdemona was 2017, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Desdemona is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Desdemona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Desdemona 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.
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.