Daily AncestorDeb.
Deb. in old records is an abbreviation of the first name Deborah.
Deb. is a clerk's shortening of Deborah. You meet it in baptism and marriage registers, wills and census name columns, where clerks cut common names down to save time.
Today Deb is a nickname, but in an old record Deb. with a period is the clerk's abbreviation of the full name. Indexes may keep the short form, so try both spellings.
As seen in a recordBequest in a will
To my daughter Deb. Fenwick, my bed and bedding
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Deb.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/deb. Last checked 2026-10-12.