# DeForest (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/deforest/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “from” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Deforest, Forest, Deforet, Foret |
| US babies named this | 667 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 667 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

Rare French surname, from de (“from”) + forest. Compare Deforrest, Defrees, Defreest.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 9 | 2,834 |
| 1966 | 6 | 3,619 |
| 1967 | 6 | 3,644 |
| 1970 | 7 | 3,933 |
| 1971 | 8 | 3,737 |
| 1972 | 6 | 4,560 |
| 1973 | 5 | 5,265 |
| 1974 | 6 | 4,755 |
| 1979 | 5 | 6,271 |
| 1991 | 7 | 6,679 |
| 1992 | 7 | 6,837 |
| 1993 | 5 | 9,052 |
| 1994 | 8 | 6,497 |
| 1995 | 7 | 7,175 |
| 2001 | 5 | 10,963 |

## People named DeForest

- DeForest Kelley, American actor (1920–1999)
- DeForest Buckner, American football player (born 1994)
- DeForest Richards, American politician (1846-1903)
- Humphrey Bogart, American actor (1899–1957)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.