Deborah

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled דבורה in IL Israel, PL Poland, LB Lebanon and 1 more and Debra in SG Singapore, RU Russia, IE Ireland.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Deborah is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name623K records spelled Deborah3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Déborah, Debórah

• Swahili given name94K records spelled Deborah5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Nigeria, Kenya, United Kingdom

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho, Yoruba

  Also written Déborah

• Portuguese given name41K records spelled Deborah157 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Argentina, United States, Spain

  Languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish

  Also written Debora, Débora, Дебора

• Indonesian given name18K records spelled Deborah4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, United Kingdom

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Déborah, Dèborah

• Hungarian given name12K records spelled Deborah6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, United States, Finland, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Déböräh, Déborah

• Turkish given name5.5K records spelled Deborah8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Türkiye, Nigeria

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani, Uzbek

  Also written Déborah

73 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Deborah is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Her specific mention and the naming of her burial site ('Oak of Weeping') highlight the honor and affection accorded to faithful servants within the patriarchal narratives.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• A name of Hebrew origin meaning 'bee', traditionally associated with industry, community, and sweetness.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• A biblical name meaning 'bee', symbolizing industry, community, and sweetness.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In English, Hebrew ‘bee’; later ‘eloquence’. Biblical name adopted by English Puritans and used in Ireland to anglicise Gobinet.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, A judge of Israel.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Deborah Kerrb. 1921GBBritish actress (1921–2007)
• Deborah Harryb. 1945USAmerican singer, songwriter and actress, frontwoman of Blondie (born 1945)
• Julie Kavnerb. 1950USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress
• Debbie Stabenowb. 1950USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (born 1950)
• Debbie Allenb. 1950USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress, choreographer, television director, television producer, singer, and dancer (born 1950)
• Debbie Roweb. 1958USnot in their usual nameformer wife of Michael Jackson
• Deborah Snyderb. 1963USAmerican film producer
• Deborah Ann Wollb. 1985USAmerican actress
• Déborah Françoisb. 1987BEBelgian actress
• Debby Ryanb. 1993USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer and actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,435 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Deborah?

We estimate roughly 977 thousand people bear Deborah (counting its spellings and scripts) across 6 countries in our records.

In which country does Deborah have the most bearers?

Deborah is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled deborah.

How common is Deborah compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Deborah is the 30th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Deborah a male or female name?

Deborah is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Deborah mean?

Recorded meaning: Deborah represents divinely ordained female leadership and wisdom.