Danesha
An invented feminine name of modern usage, potentially meaning "little dancer".
Name Census estimates that about 1,243 living Americans carry the first name Danesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Danesha today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danesha births was 1994 (129 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danesha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 275,748 Americans
Peak year
1994
129 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2013 SSA rank
#15,070
Tracked since 1972
Census
Danesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 947 people with the first name Danesha, which placed it at #12,930 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,930
National first-name rank
People counted
947
947 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Danesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danesha is Black at 88.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Danesha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Danesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.8% · 841
- White4.0% · 38
- Two or more races3.5% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Danesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danesha from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 722 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Danesha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Danesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Daneshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Danesha, while Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Danesha
The name Danesha is believed to have originated from the African continent, specifically the regions of West and Central Africa. It is thought to be derived from the Yoruba language spoken in parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The name is a combination of two words, "dane" which means "sweet" and "sha" which means "child" or "little one." Thus, the name Danesha can be interpreted to mean "sweet child" or "little sweet one."
While the exact origin of the name is not entirely clear, it is believed to have been in use among various ethnic groups in West and Central Africa for centuries. Some historians suggest that the name may have been mentioned in oral traditions and folktales passed down through generations, although there is no definitive record of it appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Danesha can be traced back to the late 19th century, when it was documented among African-American communities in the southern United States. It is believed that the name was brought over by enslaved Africans and preserved as a part of their cultural heritage.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Danesha. One of the most famous was Danesha Fabrice (1912-1998), a renowned Haitian-American painter and sculptor known for her vibrant depictions of Caribbean life. Another notable figure was Danesha Kenyatta (1923-2005), a Kenyan activist and politician who played a significant role in the country's independence movement.
In the literary world, Danesha Adichie (1929-2018) was a Nigerian novelist and poet whose works explored themes of identity, culture, and family. Danesha Diop (1946-2012) was a Senegalese filmmaker and writer whose works brought attention to issues facing women in Africa.
More recently, Danesha Mosley (born 1985) is an American professional basketball player who has represented the United States in international competitions. She is known for her impressive athleticism and skills on the court.
While the name Danesha has its roots in Africa, it has been embraced and celebrated by people of various backgrounds and cultures around the world, serving as a reminder of the richness and diversity of human experiences.
People
Danesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danesha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Danesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danesha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 275,748 US residents.
Is Danesha a common name?
We classify Danesha as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,291 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Danesha was 1994, when 129 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danesha is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Danesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 947 people with the name Danesha, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,930 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Danesha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Danesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 947 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Danesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danesha is Black at 88.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Danesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Danesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.8% (841 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Danesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Danesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Danesha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Danesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Danesha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Danesha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Danesha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.