Explore the Family Name Dea

The meaning of Dea

1. Irish: shortened form of O’Dea. 2. Chinese: possibly a variant of the surname 謝, see Xie 1. Some characteristic forenames: Chinese Suey, Hong, Kwong, Fook, Jin, Kit Ching, Lai, Ming, Suet, Wing, Yee.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Dea in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Dea has shown a rise in popularity from 2000 to 2010. It was ranked 20,995th in 2000 and moved up to the 20,285th position by 2010, marking a change of 3.38%. The count of people carrying the Dea surname also increased from 1,167 in 2000 to 1,311 in 2010, implying a growth of 12.34%. Correspondingly, the proportion per 100,000 population nudged up from 0.43 in 2000 to 0.44 in 2010, suggesting an increase of 2.33%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#20,995	#20,285	3.38%
Count	1,167	1,311	12.34%
Proportion per 100k	0.43	0.44	2.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Dea

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some changes over time for those with the Dea surname. In 2000, the majority of bearers identified as Asian/Pacific Islander (49.87%), followed by White (44.56%) and smaller proportions identifying as Hispanic (2.06%), Black (1.54%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (0.43%), or having two or more races (1.54%). By 2010, the proportion of Dea bearers who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander decreased slightly to 46.07%, while the White group increased marginally to 45.23%. Those identifying as Hispanic saw a significant increase to 2.97%. The Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native groups both saw their numbers decrease to zero, while those identifying with two or more races saw a substantial increase to 3.20%.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	49.87%	46.07%	-7.62%
White	44.56%	45.23%	1.5%
Two or More Races	1.54%	3.2%	107.79%
Hispanic	2.06%	2.97%	44.17%
Black	1.54%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.43%	0%	0%