Dessa
A feminine name of Swedish origin meaning "this one".
Name Census estimates that about 994 living Americans carry the first name Dessa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dessa today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dessa births was 2001 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dessa. 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
994
~ 1 in 344,823 Americans
Peak year
2001
31 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,307
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Dessa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dessa from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 183 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dessa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dessa 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 Dessa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dessas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Alabama, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Dessa, while Texas, California, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dessa
The name Dessa is believed to have originated from the Old English or Anglo-Saxon word "dæge" or "dæg", which means "day". It was initially used as a masculine name, but over time, it also became a feminine name. The name Dessa is thought to have been derived from the Old English word "dægdæg", which means "daybreak" or "dawn".
In the 8th century, the name Dessa appeared in the Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, which is a collection of Anglo-Saxon charters and records. The earliest recorded example of the name Dessa is found in this manuscript, where it referred to a landowner in the kingdom of Mercia, a region that covered parts of central England.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Dessa was Saint Dessa, an Irish nun and abbess who lived in the 6th century. She founded a monastery in County Waterford, Ireland, and her feast day is celebrated on September 25th in the Catholic Church.
In the 13th century, Dessa was the name of a prominent noblewoman in the Kingdom of Scotland. She was the daughter of King Alexander II and was known for her charitable works and her support for religious institutions.
During the Renaissance period, Dessa was the name of a renowned Italian poet and humanist. Dessa Isidori, born in 1452 in Florence, was celebrated for her literary works and her contributions to the cultural and intellectual life of the city.
In the 19th century, Dessa was the name of a notable American suffragist and women's rights activist. Dessa Woodbury, born in 1838 in Massachusetts, was a prominent figure in the fight for women's suffrage and played a significant role in the women's rights movement in the United States.
Another historical figure with the name Dessa was Dessa Trevilian, a British artist and sculptor who lived from 1858 to 1923. She was known for her works in marble and bronze and was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
People
Dessa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dessa 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
Dessa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dessa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 994 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dessa 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 344,823 US residents.
Is Dessa a common name?
We classify Dessa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,801 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dessa most popular?
The single biggest year for Dessa was 2001, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dessa is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dessa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dessa 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.