Delise
Delicate, finely wrought feminine name of French origin.
Name Census estimates that about 267 living Americans carry the first name Delise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Delise today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delise births was 1962 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delise. 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
267
~ 1 in 1,283,724 Americans
Peak year
1962
17 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1993 SSA rank
#9,805
Tracked since 1951
Census
Delise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 376 people with the first name Delise, which placed it at #25,264 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
#25,264
National first-name rank
People counted
376
376 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delise is Black at 42.8%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Delise 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 Delise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.8% · 161
- White38.0% · 143
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 39
- Two or more races6.1% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
Popularity
Delise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delise from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 117 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
Delise 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 Delise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delises live
Origin
Meaning and history of Delise
The name Delise is believed to have originated from the French language, specifically from the region of Normandy. It is thought to be a variation of the name Delphine, which comes from the Greek word "delphis," meaning "dolphin." The earliest known use of the name Delise dates back to the 12th century.
Records show that in the year 1147, a woman named Delise de Beaumont was a prominent figure in the court of King Louis VII of France. She was known for her intelligence and diplomatic skills, often serving as an advisor to the king on matters of state.
During the 13th century, the name Delise appeared in several religious texts and manuscripts from various monasteries across Europe. One notable example is a Benedictine nun named Delise de Cluny, who was renowned for her scholarly works and contributions to the preservation of ancient manuscripts.
In the 15th century, a French noblewoman named Delise de Montmorency played a significant role in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. She was a skilled military strategist and led troops into battle alongside her husband, earning her a place in the annals of French history.
Another famous bearer of the name Delise was a 17th-century French artist and painter, Delise Delobel. She was recognized for her intricate still-life paintings and portraits, which are now displayed in various art museums across Europe.
In the 19th century, Delise Fleury was a renowned French botanist and explorer. She traveled extensively throughout the Americas, documenting and cataloging hundreds of plant species. Her contributions to the field of botany were celebrated by the scientific community of her time.
While the name Delise has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively rare, particularly in modern times. However, its unique sound and French origins have contributed to its enduring appeal and continued usage as a first name.
People
Delise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delise 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
Delise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 267 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delise 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 1,283,724 US residents.
Is Delise a common name?
We classify Delise as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 318 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delise most popular?
The single biggest year for Delise was 1962, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delise is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 376 people with the name Delise, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,264 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 Delise 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 Delise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delise leans strongly female. 369 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Delise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delise is Black at 42.8%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Hispanic (10.4%). 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 Delise most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Delise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.8% (161 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 Delise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delise 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 Delise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delise 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 Delise 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 have the name Delise?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.