Dezaray
A feminine name with variant spellings and uncertain origin, potentially from Latin meaning "desired."
Name Census estimates that about 900 living Americans carry the first name Dezaray. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dezaray today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dezaray births was 2000 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dezaray. 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
900
~ 1 in 380,838 Americans
Peak year
2000
57 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,848
Tracked since 1978
Census
Dezaray in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 663 people with the first name Dezaray, which placed it at #16,857 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
#16,857
National first-name rank
People counted
663
663 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dezaray
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dezaray is White at 45.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.0%) and Black (19.6%). 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 Dezaray 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 Dezaray at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.4% · 301
- Hispanic or Latino25.0% · 166
- Black or African American19.6% · 130
- Two or more races8.0% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 3
Popularity
Dezaray: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dezaray 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 392 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
Dezaray 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 Dezaray during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dezarays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Dezaray, while Ohio, New York, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dezaray
The given name Dezaray finds its origins in the Mayan civilization of ancient Mesoamerica, dating back to around the 3rd century AD. It is derived from the Mayan words "dez" meaning "sacred" and "aray" meaning "flower." The name was initially used to describe the delicate and revered blossoms that were integral to Mayan religious rituals and ceremonies.
One of the earliest known references to the name Dezaray can be found in the Popol Vuh, a sacred text of the Quiché Maya people. This ancient book of mythological stories and histories mentions a figure named Dezaray, who was believed to be a priestess or spiritual guide tasked with tending to the sacred flowers used in temple rituals.
As the Mayan civilization spread across the Yucatán Peninsula and parts of modern-day Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, the name Dezaray gained popularity among the noble and ruling classes. It was often bestowed upon young girls who were destined for roles within the religious or spiritual hierarchies of their respective communities.
In the 16th century, during the Spanish conquest of the Maya, the name Dezaray was documented by Spanish chroniclers and missionaries who encountered it among the indigenous populations. One notable example is Dezaray, a Mayan woman born in 1512, who is recorded as having played a significant role in the resistance against Spanish colonization in the region of Petén.
Throughout the centuries, the name Dezaray has appeared sporadically in historical records, often associated with individuals of Mayan descent or those with connections to the ancient Mesoamerican cultures. For instance, Dezaray Chel (1785-1861) was a renowned Mayan healer and midwife in the Yucatán region, renowned for her extensive knowledge of traditional medicine and healing practices.
Another notable figure was Dezaray Canche (1897-1976), a Mayan artist and ceramicist from Chiapas, Mexico, whose intricate pottery designs were heavily influenced by ancient Mayan motifs and symbolism. Additionally, Dezaray Xec (1923-2001), a Mayan author and educator from Guatemala, dedicated her life to preserving and promoting the Mayan languages and cultural traditions through her writing and teaching.
While the name Dezaray has remained relatively uncommon outside of its Mayan cultural context, it has endured as a symbolic link to the rich heritage and spiritual traditions of the ancient Maya. Its meaning, rooted in the sacredness of nature and the reverence for life, continues to resonate with those who embrace the legacy of this remarkable civilization.
People
Dezaray + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dezaray 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
Dezaray: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dezaray?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 900 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dezaray 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 380,838 US residents.
Is Dezaray a common name?
We classify Dezaray as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 923 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dezaray most popular?
The single biggest year for Dezaray was 2000, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dezaray is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dezaray in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 663 people with the name Dezaray, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,857 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 Dezaray 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 Dezaray?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dezaray appears almost entirely female. Of the 660 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Dezaray?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dezaray is White at 45.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.0%) and Black (19.6%). 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 Dezaray most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dezaray in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.4% (301 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 Dezaray in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dezaray a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dezaray 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 Dezaray still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dezaray 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 Dezaray 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 common is the name Dezaray?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.