Denee
An invented name, possibly an elaborated form of Dennie or Denny.
Name Census estimates that about 835 living Americans carry the first name Denee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Denee today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Denee births was 1981 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Denee. 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
835
~ 1 in 410,484 Americans
Peak year
1981
35 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2010 SSA rank
#15,470
Tracked since 1955
Census
Denee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 832 people with the first name Denee, which placed it at #14,214 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
#14,214
National first-name rank
People counted
832
832 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Denee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denee is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Denee 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 Denee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.0% · 474
- Black or African American26.6% · 221
- Hispanic or Latino9.4% · 78
- Two or more races5.6% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
Popularity
Denee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Denee from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 275 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Denee 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 Denee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Denees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Denee, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Denee
The name Denee is derived from the French word "deneier," which means "to deny" or "to refuse." Its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, when it was commonly used as a surname in parts of northern France.
In the early 13th century, the name Denee appeared in several historical records and texts from the Normandy region of France. One notable mention was in the chronicles of a local abbey, where a nobleman named Denee de Rouen was documented as a benefactor.
The earliest recorded use of Denee as a given name dates back to the late 15th century, when it was occasionally bestowed upon children, particularly daughters, in parts of northern France and the Low Countries. It was sometimes spelled as "Denaye" or "Deneye" during this period.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Denee was a French noblewoman named Denee de Montmorency, who lived in the early 16th century and was known for her charitable works and patronage of the arts.
Throughout the subsequent centuries, the name Denee remained relatively uncommon but was occasionally found among French and Belgian families of various social ranks. Notable individuals with the name included Denee Lefebvre (1655-1732), a French sculptor and woodcarver known for her intricate religious artwork, and Denee Duval (1789-1862), a Belgian poet and writer whose works celebrated the natural beauty of her homeland.
In the 19th century, the name Denee gained some popularity among French communities in North America, particularly in parts of Quebec and Louisiana. One notable bearer was Denee LeBlanc (1825-1892), a Cajun storyteller and folklorist from Louisiana who helped preserve many traditional tales and legends of the region.
Another noteworthy individual was Denee Mercier (1867-1949), a French-Canadian author and educator who wrote extensively on the history and culture of Quebec, and was instrumental in promoting the use of the French language in schools and public institutions.
While the name Denee has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its rich heritage and cultural significance have endured, particularly among French-speaking communities and those with ancestral ties to the regions where the name first emerged.
People
Denee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Denee 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
Denee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Denee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 835 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Denee 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 410,484 US residents.
Is Denee a common name?
We classify Denee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 911 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Denee most popular?
The single biggest year for Denee was 1981, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Denee is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Denee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 832 people with the name Denee, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,214 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 Denee 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 Denee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Denee appears almost entirely female. Of the 835 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Denee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denee is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Denee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Denee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (474 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 Denee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Denee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Denee 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 Denee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Denee 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 Denee 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 Denee as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Denee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.