How common is the surname Desmond?

7,395 people in the United States had the surname Desmond in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 41,751 Americans. It ranked 4,783rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Desmond?

Paul Desmond, American jazz musician (1924-1977), followed by William Desmond.

Where is the surname Desmond most common?

Wikidata records people named Desmond in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

How do you pronounce Desmond?

Desmond is /ˈdɛzmənd/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Desmond getting more or less common?

More common. 7,233 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,395 in 2010, up 2.2%.

Is Desmond also a first name?

Yes. Desmond is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Desmond

An Irish surname, carried by 7,395 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈdɛzmənd/ 2 syllables Soundex D255 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Desmond is more common than 97.1% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

From Irish Ó Deasmhumhnaigh.

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 7,395 people named Desmond in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 41,751 Americans. That is up 2.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,233.

#4,783

rank among US surnames

7,395

people in 2010

2.5

per 100,000 Americans

+2.2%

change since 2000 (was #4,514)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,774	Whitehurst	7,412	41,655
#4,775	Lew	7,410	41,666
#4,776	Hintz	7,406	41,689
#4,777	Fiedler	7,403	41,705
#4,778	Upshaw	7,401	41,717
#4,779	Cushman	7,400	41,722
#4,780	Moorman	7,399	41,728

Who is named Desmond

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

89% of people named Desmond identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.0% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 89%
Black (not Hispanic) 5.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.0%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Desmonds

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Paul Desmond
American jazz musician (1924-1977)
William Desmond
American actor (1878–1949)
Ian Desmond
American baseball player, born 1985
Matthew Desmond
American sociologist, born 1979
Florence Desmond
British actress (1905-1993)
Maryanne Trump Barry
American judge (1937–2023)

Notable Desmonds come mostly from the United States (5) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Desmond

Desimone

Desmond has the Soundex code D255, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D255.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Desmond come from?: From Irish Ó Deasmhumhnaigh.
How common is the surname Desmond?: 7,395 people in the United States had the surname Desmond in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 41,751 Americans. It ranked 4,783rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Desmond?: In the 2010 Census, 89% of people named Desmond identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.0% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Desmond?: Paul Desmond, American jazz musician (1924-1977), followed by William Desmond.
Where is the surname Desmond most common?: Wikidata records people named Desmond in the United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
How do you pronounce Desmond?: Desmond is /ˈdɛzmənd/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Desmond getting more or less common?: More common. 7,233 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,395 in 2010, up 2.2%.
Is Desmond also a first name?: Yes. Desmond is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.