How popular is the baby name Deitra in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Deitra.

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Popularity of the baby name Deitra


Posts that mention the name Deitra

What gave the baby name Deirdre a boost in the 1940s?

The character Deirdre Drake (played by Dolores Moran) from the movie "Old Acquaintance" (1943).
Deirdre Drake from “Old Acquaintance

The name Deatra appeared on the Social Security Administration’s baby name list for the first time in 1944:

  • 1946: 12 baby girls named Deatra
  • 1945: 19 baby girls named Deatra
  • 1944: 29 baby girls named Deatra [debut]
  • 1943: unlisted
  • 1942: unlisted

It was a top debut name that year, in fact.

“Deatra” confused me at first. I couldn’t figure out where it came from. Then I discovered a whole bunch of similar names that also debuted in 1944…

1943194419451946
Deatra.29*1912
Dietra.25*1617
Deitra.23*1616
Detra.20*611
Diedra.19*2716
Dedra.18*1619
Deadra.15*1212
Deedra.11*149
Deirdra.11*78
Diedre.11*1422
Deardra.10*66
Dierdra.5*55
Dieatra.5*..
Deetra.5*..
*Debut

(Dieatra was a one-hit wonder.)

All these names together these pointed me to Deirdre as the likely source.

So what happened to the Irish name Deirdre that year?

  • 1946: 121 baby girls named Deirdre (rank: 742nd)
  • 1945: 78 baby girls named Deirdre (rank: 852nd)
  • 1944: 67 baby girls named Deirdre (rank: 948th)
  • 1943: 29 baby girls named Deirdre
  • 1942: 37 baby girls named Deirdre

From 1943 to 1944, usage more than doubled, pushing Deirdre into the top 1,000 for the very first time.

Other variants (e.g. Dierdre, Deidra) also saw increased usage in 1944. One of them, Deidre, even achieved top-1,000 status in 1945.

So what caused the great Deirdre-spike of 1944?

I think it was the Bette Davis film Old Acquaintance, which was released in November of 1943. It featured a character named Deirdre Drake (played by actress Dolores Moran).

I’m not 100% sure the movie was the cause, but the name of Bette Davis’s character, Kit — short for Katherine — also saw an increase in usage in 1944:

  • 1946: 24 baby girls named Kit
  • 1945: 27 baby girls named Kit
  • 1944: 25 baby girls named Kit
  • 1943: 14 baby girls named Kit
  • 1942: 12 baby girls named Kit

So I think Old Acquaintance is a decent guess.

Do you have any other ideas?

Where did the baby name Datra come from in 1989?

D'Atra Hicks' self-titled album (1989)
D’Atra Hicks album

The name Datra appeared in the U.S. baby name data for four successive years, peaking in 1990:

  • 1993: unlisted
  • 1992: 7 baby girls named Datra
  • 1991: 12 baby girls named Datra
  • 1990: 33 baby girls named Datra [peak]
  • 1989: 22 baby girls named Datra [debut]
  • 1998: unlisted

Where did it come from?

My guess is singer D’Atra (pronounced dee-ah-trah) Hicks, who released her self-titled debut album in 1989. That year, her most successful song, “Sweet Talk,” reached #8 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B Singles chart and #24 on Billboard‘s Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart.

D’Atra — who, earlier in her career, spelled her first name “Deitra” — was also playing the lead role of Doris Winter in the successful off-Broadway gospel musical Mama, I Want To Sing! during this time period (1986-1990).

More recently, D’Atra was featured in the Bravo reality show Your Husband is Cheating On Us (2018).

Do you like the name D’atra?

Sources: D’Atra Hicks – Wikipedia, D’Atra Hicks – AllMusic