Denica
A feminine given name of Slavic origin, possibly meaning "morning star".
Name Census estimates that about 181 living Americans carry the first name Denica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Denica today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Denica births was 1981 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Denica. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Denica with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
181
~ 1 in 1,893,670 Americans
Peak year
1981
13 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2007 SSA rank
#16,023
Tracked since 1967
Census
Denica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 285 people with the first name Denica, which placed it at #30,528 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
#30,528
National first-name rank
People counted
285
285 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
37.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Denica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denica is Black at 37.2%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Hispanic (17.9%). 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 Denica 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 Denica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American37.2% · 106
- White33.0% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino17.9% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 18
- Two or more races3.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 6
Popularity
Denica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Denica from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 73 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
Denica 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 Denica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Denica
The given name Denica has its origins in Slavic languages, particularly Bulgarian. It is derived from the Slavic root "den," which means "day" or "light." This connection suggests that the name Denica may have been associated with concepts of brightness, dawn, or new beginnings.
In Bulgarian culture and folklore, Denica is a personification of the morning star or the planet Venus. It is sometimes used as a metaphor for the dawn or the first rays of sunlight that herald the start of a new day. The name's connection to the morning star and the concept of light may have held symbolic significance in ancient Slavic traditions.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Denica can be traced back to medieval Bulgarian texts and chronicles from the 9th to 14th centuries. During this period, the name was primarily used among the Bulgarian nobility and aristocracy, potentially as a way to honor the cultural and mythological significance of the morning star.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Denica was a Bulgarian princess from the 12th century. Princess Denica was the daughter of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen I, who ruled from 1189 to 1196. Her name was mentioned in various chronicles and records from that era.
Another prominent figure was Denica Petkova, a 15th-century Bulgarian noblewoman and benefactor who funded the construction of several churches and monasteries in the region of Vidin, which was part of the Second Bulgarian Empire at the time.
In the 19th century, Denica Mihaylova Obretenovа (1825-1901) was a Bulgarian writer and educator who played a significant role in the country's cultural and educational development during the National Revival period.
Denica Nikolova (1952-2020) was a renowned Bulgarian actress and theater director. She was a prominent figure in the Bulgarian theater scene and received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to the performing arts.
Denica Gushterova (born 1983) is a contemporary Bulgarian singer and songwriter. She has achieved notable success in her home country and has also performed internationally, representing Bulgaria in various music competitions and festivals.
While the name Denica has its roots in Bulgarian culture and language, it has also been adopted and used in other Slavic countries, such as Serbia and Macedonia, although with varying levels of popularity and cultural significance.
People
Denica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Denica 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
Denica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Denica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 181 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Denica 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 1,893,670 US residents.
Is Denica a common name?
We classify Denica as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 194 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Denica most popular?
The single biggest year for Denica was 1981, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Denica is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Denica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 285 people with the name Denica, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,528 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 Denica 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 Denica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Denica appears almost entirely female. Of the 288 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Denica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denica is Black at 37.2%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Hispanic (17.9%). 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 Denica most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Denica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.2% (106 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 Denica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Denica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Denica 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 Denica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Denica 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 Denica 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 Americans are named Denica?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.