Humanverse

Deirdre vs Deisy

American parents have registered 16,845 Deirdres since 1880, against 3,107 Deisys. But in 2025 it was Deisy that was commoner, 35 babies to 13.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Deirdre against Deisy, 1880 to 2025 0 200 400 600 800 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Deirdre Deisy

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 103 years in which either name was published, Deirdre for 75 years and Deisy for 28 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Deirdre Deisy
Total US births 16,8453,107
Most in one year 799137
Babies in 2025 1335
Estimated living today 15,0003,100
Median age today 5622
Peak year 19612006
Best rank 333rd girls1,574th girls
Rank in 2025 7,885th4,067th
First recorded 19211972
Girls / boys 16,845 / 03,107 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Deirdres alive today are over 56; half the Deisys are over 22. That is 34 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Deirdre and Deisy.