Dimitri
Masculine · “of Demeter”
Dimitri is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 9,594 boys against 99 girls since 1880.
Dimitri comes down from the Greek Demetrios, a name built on Demeter, goddess of grain and harvest — one of the oldest continuously used names in Europe. Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki, martyred in the fourth century, made it a fixture across the Orthodox world, and it has been carried in Greek, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian mouths ever since. The spelling Dimitri is the one that traveled west through French, three easy syllables with the weight in the middle.
How old is the name Dimitri?
Dimitri first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Dimitri alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 9,200 people named Dimitri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dimitri most popular?
Dimitri peaked in 1992, reaching #503 nationally. Today it ranks #1097, 594 places below that high. See the whole 1992 chart.
Dimitri appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Demeter to Dimitri
The story of Dimitri
The name begins as Demetrios in ancient Greece, given to men in honor of Demeter, and it was already common before the Roman era; Latin took it as Demetrius. Its later reach owes much to Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki, a soldier-martyr of the fourth century venerated across the Byzantine world, whose cult carried the name into Slavic Christianity, where it became Dmitri in Russian and Dmytro in Ukrainian. French speakers rendered the Russian name Dimitri, adding the vowel that makes the first syllable easier for Western tongues, and that is the form most often seen in American records. It reached the United States with Greek and Eastern European families in the early twentieth century and has been recorded here without a break since.
Meaning
of Demeter; devoted to Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain and harvest
The Greek Demetrios is formed directly from the goddess's name. Demeter's own etymology is less certain — the second part is generally read as 'mother', the first is argued over — but the link between name and goddess is not in doubt.
How the name formed
- Demeter
- Demetrios
- Demetrius
- Dmitri
- Dimitri
Related forms: Dimitrios · Dmitri · Dmytro · Dimitrije · Dimitar · Demetrio
Pronouncing Dimitri
dih-MEE-tree
Stress on the middle syllable is the usual English pronunciation. Some speakers say DIM-ee-tree with the weight up front, and Russian speakers compress the start to something closer to dmee-TREE. All three are heard, so it is worth deciding early which one your family uses.
Nicknames for Dimitri
High
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
- 1917
- Most boys named
- 1992401 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #503reached in 1992
- Change vs 2023
- −3.0%195 in 2025, from 201
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.
Dimitri in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dimitrios in Greek — same name
- Dmitri in Russian — transliteration
- Dmytro in Ukrainian — same name
- Dimitrije in Serbian — same name
- Dimitar in Bulgarian — same name
- Demetrio in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Dimitris among us
people named Dimitri are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,759 born in 2025 was named Dimitri
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 Stanford test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dimitri's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Stanford climbed just as high around 1931, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Stanford's path sketches the road Dimitri is walking now.
Dimitri 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 Dimitri is headed
Dimitri should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Dimitri beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dimitri in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Recognizable in Greek, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Italian and French, so it travels without needing translation.
- A documented record stretching from ancient Greece to the present, with no gap.
- Several long-established short forms — Dima, Mitya, Dimi — rather than one imposed nickname.
- Uncommon enough that a child is unlikely to share it in a classroom, while still being a name most people have heard.
- The spellings compete: Dimitri, Dmitri, Dmitry, Dimitrios and Demetrius all exist, so he will spend a lifetime confirming which one is his. Choosing the version your family actually pronounces helps.
- Stress placement genuinely varies between English, Greek and Russian speakers, which means a certain amount of gentle correction.
- The name carries a clear Greek and Eastern European signal, and people may ask about heritage. That is easy to answer and, for many families, part of the point of choosing it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Dimitri to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Dimitri? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Dimitri
Masculine · #1097 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dimitris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,200 people named Dimitri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dimitri in 2025?
- Dimitri ranks #1097 among US boy names in 2025, with 195 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dimitri?
- About 1 in every 8,759 US boys born in 2025 was named Dimitri — 195 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dimitri with classmates?
- Dimitri will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dimitri
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dayton#1097 · Bobby#1097 · Rami#1097 · Brendan#1097 · Kit#1097 · Turner#1097 · Mael#1097 · Marlon#1097
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dimitri? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dimitri and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle