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US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025

Debra: name popularity by year

How often US parents chose Debra for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.

The short answer

Debra was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 9 years, between 1952 and 1960, reaching #2. Births peaked in 1955, when 50,563 baby girls were named Debra, so by peak year it is a Baby Boomers name.

Generation at the peak
Baby Boomers
Born 1946–1964
Peak year
1955
50,563 baby girls named Debra
Years in the top 10
9
1952–1960
Best rank
#2
Never #1
Babies named Debra
550,695
Girls, 1880–2025 (550,695)

Debra in the US top 10, by year

#1#5#1018801920196020002025

Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Debra (1955).

Top-10 years by generation

Years Debra spent in the US top 10, by generation of the babies
GenerationYears in top 10Best rank
Baby Boomers 9 (1952–1960) #2

Questions people ask

When was the name Debra most popular?

By number of babies, in 1955, when 50,563 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #2 and spent 9 years in the top 10.

What generation is the name Debra?

Its peak year, 1955, falls in Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Its 9 top-10 years fall in: Baby Boomers (9).

How many people have been named Debra?

SSA counted 550,695 girls named Debra born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.

In the top 10 at the same time

Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Debra are alive today.