Danise
Feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a form of Diana.
Name Census estimates that about 700 living Americans carry the first name Danise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Danise today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Danise births was 1958 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Danise. 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
700
~ 1 in 489,649 Americans
Peak year
1958
31 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2013 SSA rank
#17,191
Tracked since 1944
Census
Danise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 868 people with the first name Danise, which placed it at #13,786 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
#13,786
National first-name rank
People counted
868
868 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Danise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danise is White at 53.1%. The next largest groups are Black (29.4%) and Hispanic (10.5%). 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 Danise 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 Danise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.1% · 461
- Black or African American29.4% · 255
- Hispanic or Latino10.5% · 91
- Two or more races3.6% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 14
Popularity
Danise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Danise from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 250 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Danise 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 Danise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Danises live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Florida, Michigan recorded the most babies named Danise, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Danise
The name Danise is a variant of the French name Denise, which originated from the Greek name Dionysios. Dionysios was derived from the Greek god Dionysos, the deity of wine, vegetation, pleasure, festivity, and wildness. The name Dionysios was later Latinized to Dionysius.
In ancient Greece, Dionysos was one of the most popular and widely revered gods. His name appears in numerous ancient Greek texts and writings, including works by Homer, Euripides, and Sophocles. The cult of Dionysos was celebrated with raucous festivals and rituals, reflecting the god's association with ecstasy, madness, and unbridled revelry.
The name Denise, from which Danise is derived, first appeared in the Middle Ages as a feminine form of the name Dionysius. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Denise was Saint Denise, a 3rd-century martyr who was executed during the Christian persecution under the Roman Emperor Decius.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Danise or its variants. One of the earliest was Denise de Rieux (1495-1538), a French noblewoman who served as the Countess of Laval and Montfort. Another notable figure was Denise Levertov (1923-1997), an English-born American poet whose works explored topics such as the natural world, social justice, and spiritual quest.
In the realm of literature, Denise Robillard (1880-1960) was a French writer and journalist who authored several novels and plays. Denise Bombardier (born 1941) is a Canadian writer, journalist, and social commentator known for her outspoken views on Quebec politics and culture.
In the field of arts and entertainment, Denise Filiatrault (born 1939) is a renowned Canadian actress and director who has appeared in numerous films, television shows, and stage productions. Denise Gough (born 1980) is an Irish actress who has received critical acclaim for her performances in theater and film, including winning the Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2016.
While the name Danise may not be as common as its parent name Denise, it has been borne by individuals throughout history, reflecting the enduring influence of the ancient Greek god Dionysos and the cultural significance of the name in various contexts.
People
Danise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Danise 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
Danise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Danise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 700 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Danise 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 489,649 US residents.
Is Danise a common name?
We classify Danise as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 866 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Danise most popular?
The single biggest year for Danise was 1958, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Danise is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Danise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 868 people with the name Danise, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,786 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 Danise 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 Danise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Danise leans strongly female. 859 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 11 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Danise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Danise is White at 53.1%. The next largest groups are Black (29.4%) and Hispanic (10.5%). 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 Danise most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Danise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.1% (461 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 Danise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Danise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Danise 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 Danise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Danise 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 Danise 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 common is the name Danise?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.