Deshannon
Archaic Irish name possibly derived from Gaelic elements meaning "grandson" or "grandchild."
Name Census estimates that about 284 living Americans carry the first name Deshannon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 62.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Deshannon today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deshannon births was 1977 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deshannon. 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
284
~ 1 in 1,206,881 Americans
Peak year
1977
35 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2011 SSA rank
#9,894
Tracked since 1969
Census
Deshannon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 315 people with the first name Deshannon, which placed it at #28,488 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
#28,488
National first-name rank
People counted
315
315 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deshannon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deshannon is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (8.6%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Deshannon 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 Deshannon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.4% · 266
- White8.6% · 27
- Two or more races3.5% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Deshannon
Deshannon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 307 total registrations, 114 (37.1%) were male and 193 (62.9%) were female.
Deshannon as a male name
- Ranked #9,894 in 2011
- 7 male births in 2011
- Peak: 1976 (12 births)
Deshannon as a female name
- Ranked #14,016 in 1994
- 5 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1977 (25 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Deshannon on both sides of the split. Of the 318 people counted with this name, 130 were male (40.9%) and 188 were female (59.1%).
Popularity
Deshannon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deshannon from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 196 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
Deshannon 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 Deshannon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deshannons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Deshannon
The given name Deshannon has its origins in the Celtic languages, specifically derived from the Old Irish Gaelic words "deas" meaning "south" and "annon" meaning "valley". It is believed to have been a place name referring to a southern valley or region in ancient Ireland, possibly dating back to the 5th or 6th century AD.
In the early medieval period, personal names were often derived from place names, and Deshannon likely began as a surname or clan name before eventually being adopted as a given name. The earliest recorded use of Deshannon as a personal name is found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, where it is mentioned as the name of a minor clan chieftain in the year 879 AD.
While not a particularly common name, Deshannon has been used throughout Irish history, often by those with ties to the southern regions of the island. One notable figure was Deshannon Ua Briain (1022-1084), a warrior and leader of the Dál gCais clan who played a significant role in the military campaigns of the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru.
In the 13th century, there is record of a Deshannon Ó Conchobhair (1210-1275), a Gaelic scholar and scribe who is credited with transcribing several important medieval Irish manuscripts. Another historical figure was Deshannon Mac Diarmada (1560-1626), a poet and bard who composed works in both Irish and Latin during the Elizabethan era.
Moving into more recent times, Deshannon O'Malley (1785-1842) was an Irish revolutionary who participated in the 1798 Rebellion against British rule. And in the 20th century, Deshannon Fitzpatrick (1912-1998) was a renowned Irish historian and author who wrote extensively on the country's medieval past.
While not a common name in modern times, Deshannon retains its Celtic roots and historical significance, particularly in Ireland and among those of Irish descent.
People
Deshannon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deshannon 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
Deshannon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deshannon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 284 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deshannon 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 1,206,881 US residents.
Is Deshannon a common name?
We classify Deshannon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 307 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deshannon most popular?
The single biggest year for Deshannon was 1977, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deshannon is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deshannon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 315 people with the name Deshannon, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,488 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 Deshannon 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 Deshannon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Deshannon on both sides of the split. Of the 318 people counted with this name, 130 were male (40.9%) and 188 were female (59.1%). 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 Deshannon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deshannon is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are White (8.6%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Deshannon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Deshannon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (266 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 Deshannon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deshannon a female name?
Yes, 62.9% of people registered as Deshannon 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 Deshannon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deshannon 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 Deshannon 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 share the name Deshannon?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.