Given name
Desdemona
“an ill-fated woman”
Desdemona is a literary name with a proposed Greek meaning tied to misfortune.
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “an ill-fated woman.”
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Greek, although the derivation remains uncertain.
The story
Desdemona is Othello’s wife in Shakespeare’s tragedy. Her fate forms part of the name’s literary history; the proposed derivation from Greek dysdaimon, “ill-starred,” fits that narrative but should remain qualified.
Desdemona through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 43
- 0 boys · 43 girls
- Most popular year
- 2017
- 8 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 2017. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 153 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.
Desdemona’s family of names
Desdemona has a related form in Desmona. Desdemona has a related form in Dezdemona. Desdemona has a related form in Dezmona.
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 Desdemona
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Desdemona, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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