Demi
Feminine · “Short form of Demetria”
Demi is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 14,869 girls against 52 boys since 1880.
Demi is one of those names that arrives already finished: two open syllables, four letters, nothing to explain. Behind it stands a much older family of names built on Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain and harvest, which gave Europe Demetrius, Dimitra and Demetria long before anyone thought to trim them down. In English it has become a name in its own right, no longer waiting for the rest of itself.
How old is the name Demi?
Demi first appears in US birth records in 1964 — 61 years ago. The typical Demi is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 14,500 people named Demi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Demi most popular?
Demi peaked in 2020, reaching #339 nationally. Today it ranks #380, 41 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Demi appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Demeter to Demi
The story of Demi
Demeter's name stands at the head of this line, and from it Greek made Demetrios and Demetria, names carried steadily through the Byzantine world and into the Orthodox countries, where Dimitri and Dimitra remain everyday names. Latin borrowed Demetria, and English-speaking families shortened it the way they shortened everything — to a single bright syllable plus a vowel. Demi appears in American records only in recent generations, first as that shortening and then as the whole name parents chose outright. It is now more common as a full given name in English than Demetria ever was.
Meaningscholars disagree
Short form of Demetria — 'of Demeter', the Greek harvest goddess; also identical to the French word for 'half'
The main road is Greek: Demetria and Demetrius mean 'belonging to Demeter', goddess of grain and the earth's yield, and Demi is the clipped English form. The second is coincidence turned into association — French 'demi' means 'half', the same element in demitasse and demi-glace. Both readings are genuinely in circulation, and the name is often understood as one or the other depending on who is saying it.
How the name formed
- Demeter
- Demetrios
- Demetria
- Demi
Related forms: Dimitra · Demetria · Demetra · Dmitri · Δήμητρα · Demmi
Pronouncing Demi
DEM-ee
Stress on the first syllable, first vowel as in 'them'. Because the French word 'demi' is said duh-MEE, some people reach for that pronunciation on first sight; a single correction usually settles it.
Nicknames for Demi
Moderate
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
- 1964
- Most girls named
- 2020914 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #339reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +15.9%804 in 2025, from 694
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.
Demi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dimitra in Greek — related form
- Demetria in Latin — same name
- Demetra in Italian — related form
- Dmitri in Russian — related form
- Δήμητρα in Greek (transliterated) — transliteration
- Demmi in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Louisiana.
Demis among us
people named Demi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,999 born in 2025 was named Demi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Consuelo test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Demi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Consuelo climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Consuelo's path sketches the road Demi is walking now.
Demi 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
Where Demi is headed
Demi should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Demi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Demi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, two syllables, and no silent parts — it is spelled the way it sounds and rarely needs repeating.
- Works as a full legal name and as an everyday nickname at once, so no shortening is required.
- Sits at the end of a documented line running from Greek through Latin into English, with living relatives like Dimitra and Dmitri still in daily use abroad.
- Recognizable across English-speaking countries without being tied to one region or accent.
- In English, 'demi-' is a prefix meaning half or partial — demigod, demitasse. Most people never think of it, but the association is there for anyone who does.
- People often assume it must be short for something and ask for the longer version. Demetria is the honest answer, whether or not it is on the birth certificate.
- Its record in the US is recent, and living bearers skew young. A child named Demi is unlikely to meet an older one, which cuts both ways: no crowd, but no ready-made familiarity either.
- At two short syllables it offers little room for a formal-versus-casual switch. What you name her is what she will be called in every setting.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Demi to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Demi
Feminine · #380 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Demis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 14,500 people named Demi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Demi in 2025?
- Demi ranks #380 among US girl names in 2025, with 804 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Demi?
- About 1 in every 1,999 US girls born in 2025 was named Demi — 804 in all.
- Will my child share the name Demi with classmates?
- Demi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Demi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Amari#380 · Laura#379 · Nicole#382 · Giselle#382 · Ivory#378 · Vanessa#377 · Astrid#376 · Blaire#384
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Demi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Demi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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