How popular is the baby name Dieatra 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 Dieatra.

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Popularity of the baby name Dieatra


Posts that mention the name Dieatra

Interesting one-hit wonder names in the U.S. baby name data

single flower

They came, they went, and they never came back!

These baby names are one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data. That is, they’ve only popped up once, ever, in the entire dataset of U.S. baby names (which accounts for all names given to at least 5 U.S. babies per year since 1880).

There are thousands of one-hit wonders in the dataset, but the names below have interesting stories behind their single appearance, so these are the one-hits I’m writing specific posts about. Just click on a name to read more.

2020s

  • (none yet)

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • (none yet)

1890s

As I discover (and write about) more one-hit wonders in the data, I’ll add the names/links to this page. In the meanwhile, do you have any favorite one-hit wonder baby names?

Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Dec. 2023]

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?