Dimitri
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "follower of Demeter" (the Greek goddess of agriculture).
Name Census estimates that about 9,140 living Americans carry the first name Dimitri. It is a predominantly male name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Dimitri today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dimitri births was 1992 (408 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dimitri. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dimitri with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Dimitri is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 99 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
9.1K
~ 1 in 37,500 Americans
Peak year
1992
408 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#993
Tracked since 1917
Census
Dimitri in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,899 people with the first name Dimitri, which placed it at #2,655 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
#2,655
National first-name rank
People counted
8.9K
8,899 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dimitri
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dimitri is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (23.2%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Dimitri 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 Dimitri at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.6% · 4,684
- Black or African American23.2% · 2,062
- Hispanic or Latino15.8% · 1,408
- Two or more races5.7% · 509
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 166
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 70
Gender
Gender distribution for Dimitri
Dimitri leans heavily male at 99.0% of total registrations, but 99 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dimitri as a male name
- Ranked #993 in 2024
- 226 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (401 births)
Dimitri as a female name
- Ranked #14,046 in 1994
- 5 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1964 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dimitri leans strongly male. 8,725 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 170 female bearers (1.9%).
Popularity
Dimitri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dimitri from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,523 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Dimitri remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dimitri 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 Dimitri during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dimitris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Dimitri, while West Virginia, Kansas, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 170 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dimitri
The name Dimitri is of Greek origin, derived from the Greek name Demetrios, which means "follower of Demeter," the goddess of agriculture and fertility in Greek mythology. The name can be traced back to ancient Greece, around the 4th century BC.
In Greek mythology, Demeter was one of the most revered deities, and her name was often invoked in religious rituals and festivals. The name Demetrios, and its variations like Dimitri, were commonly used by Greeks as a way to honor the goddess and seek her blessings for bountiful harvests and prosperity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dimitri can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, who mentioned a Macedonian general named Dimitri in his writings from the 1st century AD. Plutarch's accounts suggest that the name was already in use during the Hellenistic period, which spanned from the 4th to 1st centuries BC.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Dimitri. One of the most famous was Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), a Russian composer and pianist known for his symphonies, string quartets, and operas. His works often reflected the tumultuous political climate of the Soviet era, and he is regarded as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.
Another prominent figure was Dimitri Mendeleev (1834-1907), a Russian chemist who is best known for his formulation of the Periodic Table of Elements. His groundbreaking work in organizing the elements laid the foundation for modern chemistry and earned him widespread recognition in the scientific community.
In the realm of literature, Dimitri Nabokov (1934-2012), the son of the acclaimed novelist Vladimir Nabokov, was a renowned opera singer and translator. He played a crucial role in preserving and promoting his father's literary legacy, translating several of his works from Russian to English.
The name Dimitri has also been associated with royalty, as in the case of Dimitri Pavlovich (1891-1942), a Grand Duke of Russia and a member of the Romanov dynasty. He was one of the few members of the imperial family to survive the Bolshevik Revolution, and his life was marked by exile and tragedy.
Lastly, Dimitri Amilohashvili (1947-2012) was a prominent Georgian writer and poet, known for his poignant works that explored themes of love, loss, and cultural identity. His poetry, which was often inspired by Georgian folklore and traditions, earned him widespread acclaim both in his homeland and internationally.
People
Dimitri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dimitri 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
Dimitri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dimitri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dimitri 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 37,500 US residents.
Is Dimitri a common name?
We classify Dimitri as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,497 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dimitri most popular?
The single biggest year for Dimitri was 1992, when 408 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dimitri is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dimitri in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,899 people with the name Dimitri, or 2.95 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,655 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 Dimitri 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 Dimitri?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dimitri leans strongly male. 8,725 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 170 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Dimitri?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dimitri is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (23.2%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Dimitri most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dimitri in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.6% (4,684 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 Dimitri in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dimitri a male name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Dimitri 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 Dimitri still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dimitri 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 Dimitri 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 Dimitri?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.