Dema
Feminine
Demas gets one line in the New Testament and it is not a good one. Paul, writing near the end, says that Demas has forsaken him, having loved this present world, and gone to Thessalonica — and that is the whole of him. Dema may descend from that name or from Demetria, and nineteenth-century American families used both without much comment.
How old is the name Dema?
Dema first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Dema alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 300 people named Dema are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dema most popular?
Dema peaked in 1892, reaching #1017 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 13,925 places below that high. See the whole 1892 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Demetria to Dema
The story of Dema
Nineteenth-century American naming reached into the New Testament for a great many obscure names, including several that appear only once — Demas among them. It also produced a large number of very short women's names by clipping longer ones, and Demetria, Adema and Edema were all available. Dema appears in the record from 1888 and peaked in 1892, which places it firmly in that period and among the names that faded within a generation.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Two candidates. Demas is a Greek name in the New Testament, probably a short form of Demetrius, which means belonging to Demeter, the grain goddess. Demetria is the feminine of the same. If the name is instead a clipping of Adema or Edema or a construction from sound, nothing attaches. The record does not choose.
How the name formed
- Demetria
- Dema
Related forms: Dimitra
Pronouncing Dema
DEE-muh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some families say DEM-uh with a short first vowel; both appear in the older records and neither is standard.
Nicknames for Dema
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 192320 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1017reached in 1892
- Change vs 2021
- 0.0%5 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Dema in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dimitra in Greek — related form
Demas among us
people named Dema are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Dema
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Dema
- #14942
- Dema on the 2025 chart
- #941
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Dema went to 5 girls in 2025, but Deema is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 19, which makes it the 941st most-given girls’ name of the year — 14,001 places above the chart.
- Deema14
- Dema5
About 1 girl in 84,593 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 321,453 for Dema itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Dema sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Dema beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dema in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two open syllables — it fits any form and survives any accent.
- It is extremely rare, so a child will not meet another.
- Demi is available as a modern equivalent and is entirely current.
- It belongs firmly to the nineteenth century and carries that flavor.
- Its meaning cannot be given, since neither candidate can be shown.
- The first vowel is unsettled, so the name arrives two ways.
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Dema
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Demas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Dema are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Dema?
- Dema is one of 2 recorded spellings. Deema is the more common one — 14 births in 2025 against 5 for Dema.
- How popular is the name Dema in 2025?
- Dema ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dema?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Dema — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dema with classmates?
- Dema will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dema
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dema? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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