Deshonda
A feminine name possibly derived from "de shon da", meaning "the shining one".
Name Census estimates that about 311 living Americans carry the first name Deshonda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deshonda today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deshonda births was 1980 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deshonda. 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
311
~ 1 in 1,102,104 Americans
Peak year
1980
20 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1999 SSA rank
#13,124
Tracked since 1969
Census
Deshonda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 293 people with the first name Deshonda, which placed it at #29,959 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
#29,959
National first-name rank
People counted
293
293 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deshonda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deshonda is Black at 94.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Deshonda 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 Deshonda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.9% · 278
- Two or more races2.4% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 5
- White1.0% · 3
Popularity
Deshonda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deshonda from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 127 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Deshonda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deshonda 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 Deshonda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deshondas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas recorded the most babies named Deshonda, while Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deshonda
The given name Deshonda appears to be a modern invented name with no clear linguistic or cultural origin. There are no historical records or references to this name in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or early historical documents.
Despite its lack of a documented etymology, a few notable individuals have borne the name Deshonda throughout history. One of the earliest recorded instances is Deshonda Watts, an American author and motivational speaker born in 1975. Her works include "The Power of Positive Thinking" and "Embracing Your Inner Strength."
Another individual with this name is Deshonda Williams, an American basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) during the early 2000s. She was born in 1979 and played for teams such as the Detroit Shock and the Indiana Fever.
In the field of music, Deshonda Hubbard is a jazz vocalist and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. She was born in 1982 and has released several acclaimed albums, including "Soulful Expressions" and "Rhythm and Blues."
Deshonda Cartwright, born in 1968, is an American entrepreneur and businesswoman. She founded a successful cosmetics company and has been recognized for her contributions to the beauty industry.
Lastly, Deshonda Pryor, born in 1991, is a talented artist and painter from Chicago, Illinois. Her vibrant and expressive works have been featured in numerous exhibitions and galleries across the United States.
While the name Deshonda may be a modern creation, these individuals have contributed to various fields and have helped to establish a legacy associated with this given name.
People
Deshonda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deshonda 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
Deshonda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deshonda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 311 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deshonda 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 1,102,104 US residents.
Is Deshonda a common name?
We classify Deshonda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 334 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deshonda most popular?
The single biggest year for Deshonda was 1980, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deshonda is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deshonda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 293 people with the name Deshonda, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,959 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 Deshonda 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 Deshonda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deshonda leans strongly female. 292 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Deshonda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deshonda is Black at 94.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Deshonda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Deshonda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.9% (278 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 Deshonda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deshonda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deshonda 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 Deshonda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deshonda 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 Deshonda 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 have the name Deshonda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.