Desi

Spellings & scripts●

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 5 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◐

Desi is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name27K records spelled Desi37 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, Germany, Australia

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Dessi, Dési, Dessì, Dessi', Dessí

• Spanish given name8.4K records spelled Desi7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Spain, Philippines

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Dési, Dēsï, Déśî, Dêsî, Dësi

• Bulgarian given name2.1K records spelled Desi23 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Bulgaria, United States, Spain, Italy

  Languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian

  Also written Деси, Dessy, Dessi, Dessì, Dési

• a separate given name1.7K records spelled Desi4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Ethiopia, United Kingdom

  Also written Desì, Dësi, Dési

• Swahili given name413 records spelled Desi4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Kenya, India, Spain

  Also written Dési

55 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●

Desi is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Of or pertaining to the culture, people, or products of South Asia; South Asian.

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

• In Catalan, inflection of desar:

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

• In Finnish, decilitre

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

• In Latvian, Dajaku cilts no klemantanu grupas, dzīvo Kalimantānas rietumos (Indonēzijā un Malaizijā), valoda pieder pie austronēziešu saimes indonēziešu grupas, animistiski ticējumi

  as a word·Tēzaurs.lv (Dictionary and Thesaurus of Latvian, AiLab / LU MII)

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) — 77 years between 1948–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Desi Reijersb. 1964NLDutch swimmer
• Desi Lydicb. 1981USAmerican actor and comedian
• Hera Desi Ana Rachmawatib. 1992IDIndonesian badminton player
• Desi Banksb. 1993USAmerican comedian
• Desi Domoactress
• Desi WilkinsonGBIrish musician
• Desi van DoeverenNLDutch voice actress and singer

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 · 294 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Desi?

We estimate roughly 2.9 thousand people bear Desi (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Desi have the most bearers?

Desi is most frequently recorded in Indonesia, where it is most often spelled desi.

How common is Desi compared with other names?

In Indonesia, Desi is the 73rd most common given name of 232,466 given names recorded there.

Is Desi a male or female name?

Desi is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.

What does the name Desi mean?

Recorded meaning: pers. name (D. Arnaz)