Girls' name · peaked in 1955
Debra name popularity since 1925
551,770 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Debra. Half of them were born in 1957 or earlier, so the typical Debra is about 69 years old in 2026. Debra peaked in 1955 as the #4 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 551,770
- Named Debra, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,478 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 550,624 girls · 1,146 boys
- Most popular in
- Iowa
- 1.66× its national share
Peak year is the year Debra made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Debra births per year, 1925–2025
1955 was the biggest year for Debra both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1947 and 1952, Debra became 38× more common, from 1 in 2,610 baby girls to 1 in 69.
- Steepest fall: Between 1971 and 1976, its share of baby girls fell by 60%, from 1 in 281 to 1 in 708.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Debra's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Debra.
Decade by decade
Babies named Debra in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 64 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 468 | 0 | #960 |
| 1940s | 5,429 | 6 | #511 |
| 1950s | 341,348 | 591 | #4 |
| 1960s | 153,771 | 410 | #27 |
| 1970s | 34,605 | 108 | #114 |
| 1980s | 9,823 | 31 | #273 |
| 1990s | 3,125 | 0 | #776 |
| 2000s | 1,213 | 0 | #1,860 |
| 2010s | 547 | 0 | #3,932 |
| 2020–25 | 231 | 0 | #4,478 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
81.4% of babies named Debra from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Debra is most popular
The index compares Debra's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Debra.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 1.66× | 11,709 |
| South Dakota | 1.66× | 2,938 |
| Wyoming | 1.65× | 1,236 |
| Wisconsin | 1.63× | 17,830 |
| Kansas | 1.54× | 8,690 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Debra and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Debra (this page) | 550,624 | 1955 |
| Debrah | 4,404 | 1954 |
| Debbra | 3,652 | 1955 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Debra's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Debra.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Debra (1955).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data