Deneisha
A feminine name of unknown origin meaning "strength".
Name Census estimates that about 396 living Americans carry the first name Deneisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Deneisha today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deneisha births was 1994 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deneisha. 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
396
~ 1 in 865,541 Americans
Peak year
1994
46 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2008 SSA rank
#18,250
Tracked since 1978
Census
Deneisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 384 people with the first name Deneisha, which placed it at #24,893 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
#24,893
National first-name rank
People counted
384
384 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deneisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deneisha is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Deneisha 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 Deneisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.2% · 354
- White3.4% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 6
- Two or more races1.6% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Deneisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deneisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 223 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
Deneisha 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 Deneisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deneishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Deneisha, while South Carolina, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Deneisha
The name Deneisha is a modern English given name that appears to have emerged in the late 20th century. Its origins are not entirely clear, but it seems to be a combination of the English name Denise and the suffix "-isha" which has roots in various African languages.
One possible theory suggests that Deneisha may have derived from the French name Denise, which itself comes from the Latin name Dionysia. Dionysia was the feminine form of Dionysius, a name derived from the Greek god Dionysus, the god of wine, vegetation, and fertility. In this context, the name Deneisha could be interpreted as a variant of Denise with an added African-inspired suffix.
Another theory suggests that the name Deneisha may have originated from the combination of the names Denise and Keisha, the latter being a popular African-American name derived from the Swahili name Qayshashe. This would suggest that Deneisha has a blended cultural origin, combining Western and African influences.
While the name Deneisha does not appear to have any direct historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it reflects the growing trend of creating new, unique names by combining elements from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Some notable individuals who have borne the name Deneisha include Deneisha Blackwood, a Jamaican sprinter who competed in the 2012 London Olympics, and Deneisha Sherice Rudolph, an American boxer. However, as a relatively modern name, there are few historically significant figures recorded with this particular first name.
It is worth noting that the name Deneisha appears to be more prevalent in certain regions, particularly in the United States and the Caribbean, reflecting the cultural diversity and the blending of traditions that have contributed to the creation and popularity of this name.
People
Deneisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deneisha 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
Deneisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deneisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 396 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deneisha 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 865,541 US residents.
Is Deneisha a common name?
We classify Deneisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 411 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deneisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Deneisha was 1994, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deneisha 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 Deneisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 384 people with the name Deneisha, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,893 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 Deneisha 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 Deneisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deneisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 375 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Deneisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deneisha is Black at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Deneisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Deneisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (354 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 Deneisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deneisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deneisha 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 Deneisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deneisha 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 Deneisha 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 share the name Deneisha?
Want to know how many Americans are named Deneisha? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.