ninan.org

Denise

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~330,900 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,673 among girls
Births in 2025
123 374,789 since 1880
Typical age
61 years, median

Denise popularity over time

Denise rank by birth year, 1882–2025Denise ranked #908 in 1882 and #1,673 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #23, in 1955.#100#1,000#1,673best #23 in 195518901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1882–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1961 is the peak year for Denise, with 15,422 births. The name does not appear in the data until 1882. It has held a top-100 place in 33 separate years.

As of 2025 the name sits at #1,673, with 123 births that year. Compared with 2015, births are down 54%. It climbed 222 places against the previous year.

Babies named Denise per yearPeaks at 15,422 births in 1961.15,422 in 1961018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Denise?

About 330,900 people named Denise are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 374,789 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Denise?

Median age among living Denises: 61. The 1960s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Denise a late 20th-century name.

Your Denise

Ages of living people named DeniseHalf of living Denises are older than 61 and half younger.median 61020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Denise is most common

California uses the name 2.0× as often as the country as a whole.

Where Denise is used more than average2 states use the name Denise more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 2.0× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: 1.6× the national rateTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Denise is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 417 2.0×
Texas 301 1.6×

Denise in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Denise ranked #4,867 in 2025 on 4 births.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Denise comes from

From French Denise, from Latin Dionȳsia. Dionysus is the mythological Greek god of wine responsible for growth of the vines and the originator of winemaking. Doublet of Dionysia.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Denise

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Denise Richards American actress 1971 59
Denise Crosby American actress 1957 35
Denise Levertov British-American poet 1923–1997 31
Denise Lewis British athlete 1972 30
Denise Ho Canada - Hong Kong singer and social activist 1977 29
Denise Herrmann-Wick German cross-country skier and biathlete 1988 28
Denise Scott Brown American architect 1931 26
Denise Quiñones Puerto Rican actor-model 1980 24
Photo credits (6)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 633 in 1945 to 1,585 in 1946 — 2.5 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/denise.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).