Desmund
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "man from Desmûns".
Name Census estimates that about 121 living Americans carry the first name Desmund. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Desmund today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Desmund births was 1990 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Desmund. 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
121
~ 1 in 2,832,680 Americans
Peak year
1990
12 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2016 SSA rank
#12,675
Tracked since 1977
Census
Desmund in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 146 people with the first name Desmund, which placed it at #46,062 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
#46,062
National first-name rank
People counted
146
146 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Desmund
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Desmund is Black at 66.4%. The next largest groups are White (15.1%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Desmund 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 Desmund at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.4% · 97
- White15.1% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 11
- Two or more races6.2% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 7
Popularity
Desmund: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Desmund from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 71 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
Desmund 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 Desmund during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Desmunds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Desmund
The given name Desmund is an English variant of the Medieval Latin name Desiderius, which in turn derives from the Latin desideratus meaning "longed for" or "desired". The name Desiderius itself can be traced back to the Latin dēsīderāre, meaning "to long for, desire".
The earliest recorded use of the name Desiderius dates back to the 8th century, when it was borne by Desiderius, the last king of the Lombards in Italy from around 756 to 774 AD. He was eventually defeated and deposed by Charlemagne, the Frankish king and first Holy Roman Emperor.
In the 11th century, Pope Victor III, born Desiderius (circa 1027–1087), held the papacy from 1086 until his death. He was the successor of Pope Gregory VII and played a significant role in the Investiture Controversy between the papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor.
Another notable figure with the name Desiderius was the 12th-century French Benedictine monk and abbot, Desiderius of Auxerre (circa 1079–1137). He was known for his contributions to the study of the liberal arts and his works on theology and philosophy.
In the 16th century, the English form of the name, Desmund, began to appear. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this spelling was Desmund Yorke (circa 1535–1610), an English Roman Catholic priest and martyr who was executed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I for his religious beliefs.
Another prominent figure with the name Desmund was the Irish-born British naval officer and explorer, Desmund Craven (1670–1749). He served in the Royal Navy and is best known for his expeditions and surveys of the coastlines of North America and the Caribbean in the early 18th century.
These are just a few examples of individuals with the given name Desmund or its variants throughout history. The name has been used across various cultures and time periods, reflecting its enduring appeal and rich historical roots.
People
Desmund + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Desmund 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
Desmund: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Desmund?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Desmund 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 2,832,680 US residents.
Is Desmund a common name?
We classify Desmund as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 125 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Desmund most popular?
The single biggest year for Desmund was 1990, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Desmund is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Desmund in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 146 people with the name Desmund, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,062 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 Desmund 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 Desmund?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Desmund appears almost entirely male. Of the 151 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Desmund?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Desmund is Black at 66.4%. The next largest groups are White (15.1%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Desmund most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Desmund in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.4% (97 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 Desmund in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Desmund a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Desmund in the SSA data are male. 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 Desmund still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Desmund 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 Desmund 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 Desmund as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.