Given name & surname
Debby
“bee”
In English use, Debby is a diminutive of Deborah. One Hebrew interpretation is “bee.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Debby is a diminutive of Deborah. One Hebrew interpretation is “bee.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In English use, Debby is a diminutive of Deborah. An origin associated with Deborah is Hebrew.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English usage, Debby is a diminutive of Deborah.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1923. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Debby is a diminutive of Deborah. The history of Deborah gives this family its wider story. Deborah has a place in biblical naming traditions.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Debby through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 9,697
- 0 boys · 9,697 girls
- Most popular year
- 1959
- 890 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 8 in 2016. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 890 in 1959. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 8,026 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Debby’s family of names
In English usage, Debby is a diminutive of Deborah. Debby has a related form in Deborah.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Debby
- Debby RyanAmerican singer and actress (born 1993)
- Debby BooneAmerican singer (born 1956)
- Debby SusantoIndonesian badminton playerborn 1989
- Debby StamDutch volleyball playerborn 1984
- Debby ApplegateAmerican biographerborn 1968
- Debby WillemszDutch water polo playerborn 1994
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Debby, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.