Deborah

What Deborah means

Means “bee”

From Hebrew דְּבוֹרָה (dvorá), meaning bee.

Source: Wiktionary, “Deborah” (revision 94538722), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Deborah?

US: Steady: #804 in 2015, #862 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #686 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1954, when 54,674 girls got the name (#3 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 5,135 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,725 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,578 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MN (0.56 per 1,000 girls), IN (0.54 per 1,000 girls), CT (0.52 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Deborah is #862 in the US and #580 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Deborah were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Debora78 US · 11 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Debra
• Debora

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Deborah

Girls

• Lisa#987“Locally Integrated Software Architecture”^*
• Marie#617Editor’s note Down from #560 in 2015 to #617 in 2025 in the US
• Anne#619Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1959, with 5,745 babies; 472 in 2025
• Jessie#823Diminutive of Jessica, possibly meaning “Iscah in Genesis 11:29…^*
• Martha#712“mistress”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*

For a brother

• James#6“May He Heel”^*
• Philip#527“fond of horses”^*
• Peter#187“stone, rock”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Paul#262“small”^*
• Thomas#34“twin”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Deborah’s. Rank is US 2025.