Deston
An English masculine name derived from the surname Daston or Dastin, possibly meaning "son of David".
Name Census estimates that about 450 living Americans carry the first name Deston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Deston today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deston births was 2002 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deston. 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
450
~ 1 in 761,676 Americans
Peak year
2002
27 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,667
Tracked since 1977
Census
Deston in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 384 people with the first name Deston, which placed it at #24,893 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
#24,893
National first-name rank
People counted
384
384 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deston
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deston is White at 44.0%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and Hispanic (11.2%). 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 Deston 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 Deston at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.0% · 169
- Black or African American30.5% · 117
- Hispanic or Latino11.2% · 43
- Two or more races8.6% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 10
Popularity
Deston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deston from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 176 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deston 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 Deston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Destons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Deston
The name Deston has its origins in Old English, derived from the combination of the words "dēst" meaning "stranger" and "tūn" meaning "town" or "village." This suggests that the name may have been initially used to refer to someone who was a stranger or newcomer to a particular settlement.
In the early medieval period, the name Deston was primarily found in the regions of what is now southern England and parts of Wales, where Old English was the predominant language. It is believed that the earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 7th or 8th century CE, although specific historical records from this period are scarce.
While there are no known references to the name Deston in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that it was used as a personal name among the Anglo-Saxon communities of that time. The name's association with the concept of being a "stranger" or "outsider" may have held particular significance in those societies.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the name Deston was a minor landowner from the village of Deston, located in what is now Somerset, England, around the 11th century. Records from this period show that he was involved in local disputes over land ownership and taxation.
In the 12th century, a knight named Deston of Shrewsbury is mentioned in chronicles as having participated in the Norman conquest of Ireland, though specific details about his life and exploits are limited.
During the 13th century, a scholar and scribe known as Deston the Wise is believed to have lived and worked in the monasteries of northern England. He is credited with transcribing and preserving several important manuscripts, although many of his personal details remain obscure.
In the 15th century, a merchant named Deston Fairchild was a prominent figure in the city of Bristol, England. He was known for his successful trading ventures and his involvement in local politics and civic affairs.
In the 17th century, a Puritan minister named Deston Whitefield gained recognition for his fiery sermons and his efforts to reform the Church of England. He was a vocal critic of the religious and political establishment of his time, and his writings influenced many of his contemporaries.
People
Deston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deston 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
Deston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deston 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 761,676 US residents.
Is Deston a common name?
We classify Deston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 457 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deston most popular?
The single biggest year for Deston was 2002, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deston is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deston in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 384 people with the name Deston, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,893 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 Deston 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 Deston?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deston leans strongly male. 378 people counted with this name were male (98.4%), compared with 6 female bearers (1.6%). 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 Deston?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deston is White at 44.0%. The next largest groups are Black (30.5%) and Hispanic (11.2%). 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 Deston most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Deston in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.0% (169 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 Deston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deston 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 Deston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deston 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 Deston 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 Deston?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Deston at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.