Desmond

Where Desmond comes from

From Irish Ó Deasmhumhnaigh.
— Wiktionary's entry for Desmond
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1904
    First appearance
    #874 among boys, 8 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1919
    Desmond Doss born
    American solder, pacifist, and combat medic; recipient of the Purple Heart medal, recipient of the Medal of Honor (1919–2007) Un gran hombre en la vida militar.
  3. 1931
    Desmond Tutu born
    South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner
  4. 1992
    Peak, #264
    1,069 babies named Desmond — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2005
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #472.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname; popular in Britain in the first half of the twentieth century.
Namesakes
  • Desmond Tutu · South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner, 1931–2021
  • Desmond Doss · American solder, pacifist, and combat medic; recipient of the Purple Heart medal, recipient of the Medal of Honor (1919–2007) Un gran hombre en la vida militar., 1919–2006
  • Desmond Llewelyn · British actor, 1914–1999
  • Desmond Dekker · Jamaican ska singer-songwriter, 1941–2006
  • Desmond Harrington · American actor, born 1976

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.