The Desmond surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,395 people carried this name — #4,783 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 39,800 people counted. That is up 2% from 7,233 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Desmond surname
A surname from Irish, anglicised from Ó Deasmhumhnaigh, meaning "a man from South Munster".
From Irish Ó Deasmhumhnaigh.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Desmond» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890
Ireland registered 34 births for the Desmond name in 1890.
Most were registered in Munster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 1,500 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “32 in Cork.”
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 243 people named Desmond.
5 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 21 départements, most often Dordogne.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
20 people named Desmond is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Desmond in American newspapers,
1857.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 81,035 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Desmond,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Cornelius Desmond 1838–1907 · politician -
Jeremiah Desmond 1853– · politician -
Arthur Desmond 1859–1929 · author -
George Henri Desmond 1874–1965 · architect -
Kathleen Mary Desmond d. 1984
-
William Desmond d. 1941 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Desmond.
- Deslauriers 1,280 · U.S. census
- Desmarais 4,170 · U.S. census
- Desmedt 154 · U.S. census
- Desmet 1,204 · U.S. census
- Desmidt 288 · U.S. census
- Desmit 253 · U.S. census
- Desnoyer 167 · U.S. census
- Desnoyers 603 · U.S. census
- Deson 104 · U.S. census
- Desormeau 222 · U.S. census
- Desormeaux 1,118 · U.S. census
- Despins 130 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Desmond is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.