Deserea
Of unknown origin, potentially meaning "desired" or "wished for".
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Deserea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deserea today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deserea births was 1990 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deserea. 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
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
1990
18 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2006 SSA rank
#12,711
Tracked since 1979
Census
Deserea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237 people with the first name Deserea, which placed it at #34,427 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
#34,427
National first-name rank
People counted
237
237 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deserea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deserea is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.6%) and Black (17.7%). 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 Deserea 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 Deserea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 112
- Hispanic or Latino23.6% · 56
- Black or African American17.7% · 42
- Two or more races6.3% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 3
Popularity
Deserea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deserea from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 112 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
Deserea 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 Deserea 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 Deserea
The name Deserea is a relatively uncommon one, shrouded in mystery and obscurity. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Etruscan civilization, which flourished in what is now modern-day Italy between the 8th and 3rd centuries BC. The Etruscans were a highly advanced society, known for their art, architecture, and rich cultural traditions.
One theory suggests that Deserea is derived from the Etruscan word "desir," which means "to desire" or "to long for." This could indicate that the name was originally bestowed upon individuals who were deeply desired or longed for by their parents or community. However, the exact etymology remains uncertain due to the limited surviving records of the Etruscan language.
Another possibility lies in the connection between Deserea and the ancient Roman goddess Desideria, who was associated with desire, longing, and the fulfillment of wishes. While the goddess's name is slightly different, the similarity in sound and meaning cannot be overlooked, hinting at a potential link between the two.
The earliest known recorded instance of the name Deserea dates back to the 5th century AD, where it appears in a fragmentary manuscript discovered in the ruins of an ancient Roman settlement. This document lists a woman named Deserea among the members of a local community, suggesting that the name was in use during the later stages of the Roman Empire.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Deserea. One of the most prominent was Deserea of Carthage (c. 420-490 AD), a renowned scholar and philosopher who played a significant role in preserving ancient Greek and Roman texts during the tumultuous period of the Late Antiquity.
Another notable Deserea was a 12th-century noblewoman from the Kingdom of Aragon, who served as a trusted advisor to King Alfonso II and was renowned for her diplomatic skills and political acumen.
In the 16th century, Deserea Borgia (1499-1553) was a member of the infamous Borgia family and a prominent figure in the Italian Renaissance. Known for her intelligence and wit, she was a patron of the arts and a respected intellectual in her own right.
The name also surfaces in the annals of French history with Deserea de Montmorency (1567-1635), a wealthy heiress and philanthropist who dedicated her life to supporting various charitable causes and establishing schools for underprivileged children.
Finally, Deserea Nightingale (1820-1910) was a British nurse and social reformer who made significant contributions to the modernization of nursing practices and the establishment of professional nursing training programs in the 19th century.
While the name Deserea may be relatively obscure today, its rich history and connections to various cultures and historical figures make it a fascinating and enigmatic name, carrying echoes of desire, longing, and the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.
People
Deserea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deserea 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
Deserea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deserea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deserea 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Deserea a common name?
We classify Deserea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 216 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deserea most popular?
The single biggest year for Deserea was 1990, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deserea is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deserea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237 people with the name Deserea, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,427 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 Deserea 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 Deserea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deserea appears almost entirely female. Of the 236 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 Deserea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deserea is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.6%) and Black (17.7%). 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 Deserea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Deserea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (112 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 Deserea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deserea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deserea 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 Deserea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deserea 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 Deserea 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 Deserea?
Want to know how many people have the name Deserea? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.