Girl · Cornish place name
Demelza
Say it: deh-MEL-zuh
Meaning
Taken from a Cornish place name near St Wenn, whose meaning is uncertain; popularized by Winston Graham's Poldark novels from 1945.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 30 babies given this name since 1978
- At its height in 2020, about 1 in 228,400 girls
- 7 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.