Deborah
2025 SSA
About Deborah
Deborah has suffered from the fact that in the mid-twentieth century there were so many Debbies on the block that the beauty and meaning of the original name got lost. Deborah may no longer be among the most popular girl names starting with D, but now this lovely name of an Old Testament prophetess suddenly sounds fresher than overused Sarah, Rachel, and Rebecca.
The biblical Deborah was a poet, judge, and heroic prophet who first predicted that the Israelites would win their freedom from the tyrannical Canaanites, then led a successful revolt that helped accomplish it, celebrating the victory in a famous song of triumph.
Deborah was the second most popular name in the US in 1955, remaining in the Top 10 from 1950 to 1962. The streamlined version, Debra, was hot on its tail, replacing it at Number 2 a year later.
Some notable bearers have been Revolutionary War heroine Deborah Sampson Gannett, actress Deborah Kerr, modern operatic soprano Deborah Voigt, Deborah (Blondie) Harry, and Debbie (born Mary Frances) Reynolds.
The original form Devorah is another possibility.
Pronounced DEB-uh-ruh.
As of October 2026, Deborah ranked #864 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #2 in 1955, Nameberry popularity #879.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #752 | 373 | 208.8 |
| 2015 | #804 | 350 | 196.1 |
| 2016 | #821 | 349 | 197 |
| 2017 | #772 | 357 | 206.8 |
| 2018 | #781 | 349 | 205.2 |
| 2019 | #900 | 296 | 176.4 |
| 2020 | #905 | 290 | 179.4 |
| 2021 | #910 | 295 | 179.8 |
| 2022 | #910 | 301 | 183.5 |
| 2023 | #968 | 267 | 166.4 |
| 2024 | #852 | 316 | 195 |
| 2025 | #864 | 313 | 194.7 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Deborah.
- Patricia
- Suzanne
- Diane
- Susan
- Pamela
- Janet
- Donna
- Joyce
- Ellen
- Paulina
- Paula
- Barbara
- Lisa
- Carla
- Judy
- Christine
- Hillary
- Linda
- Candace
- Karen
Deborah on lists
Famous Deborahs
- Deborah Jane Kerr
Scottish actress
- Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry
American singer
- Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson
American singer
- Deborah Anne "Debby" Boone
American singer
- Deborah Ann "Debby" Ryan
American actress
- Deborah Cox
American R&B singer
- Deborah Pryce
former U.S. Congresswoman from Ohio
- Deborah Mailman
Australian actress
- Deborah Ann Woll
American actress
- Deborah L. "Deb" Mell
American politician
- Deborah Ann Conway
Australian singer, formerly of band Do,Re,Mi
- Deborah Lynn Thurmond Allen
American country music singer
- Deborah Kara Unger
Canadian actress
- Deborah Voigt
American operatic soprano
- Deborah Vivien (Mitford) Cavendish
Duchess of Devonshire
- Deborah Esther Lipstadt
American historian and author
- Deborah Lytton
American novelist
- Deborah Read
common,law wife of Benjamin Franklin
- Deborah "Deb" Chubb
Contestant and third-place finisher on season 4 of Love Island USA
Deborah in pop culture
- Deborah Gale
schoolmistress who sacrifices her personal life for her pupils in Ernest Poole's Pulitzer Prize,winning novel His Family (1917)
- Deborah Krillet
'the Shulamite' from Alice and Claude Askew's novels The Shulamite (1904) and The Woman Deborah (1910)
- Deborah "Debbie" Scott
character on One Tree Hill
- Deborah Treverton
character from Green city in the sun, by Barbara Wood
- Harriet Deborah Vane
character in Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books
- Deborah Jenkyns
character in Cranford
- Deborah "Debbie" Thornberry
character in the cartoon The Wild Thornberrys
- Deborah "Debbie" Ocean
character on "Ocean's" series
- Deborah "Debbie" Gallagher
youngest daughter on Showtime TV series Shameless