Denisa
A feminine name of Bulgarian origins meaning "day" or "dawn".
Name Census estimates that about 877 living Americans carry the first name Denisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Denisa today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Denisa births was 1964 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Denisa. 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 Denisa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
877
~ 1 in 390,826 Americans
Peak year
1964
37 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,838
Tracked since 1952
Census
Denisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,582 people with the first name Denisa, which placed it at #8,978 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
#8,978
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,582 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Denisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denisa is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Denisa 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 Denisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.0% · 1,139
- Black or African American11.8% · 187
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 183
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 27
- Two or more races1.7% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 19
Popularity
Denisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Denisa from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 270 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
Denisa 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 Denisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Denisas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Denisa, while Ohio, California, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Denisa
The name Denisa finds its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the Czech and Slovak regions. It is believed to have emerged around the 9th or 10th century AD, during the early medieval period in Central Europe. The name is derived from the Slavic root "den," which means "day" or "light," and is often associated with concepts of brightness, warmth, and new beginnings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Denisa can be found in the Chronica Polonorum, a medieval chronicle written by Gallus Anonymus in the 12th century. The text mentions a noblewoman named Denisa, who lived in the region that is now Poland.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Denisa. One of the most prominent was Denisa of Bautzen (c. 1185-1240), a Sorbian princess and abbess of the Cistercian monastery in Marienthal, Saxony. She was renowned for her piety and leadership within the religious community.
Another historical figure was Denisa of Anjou (1244-1288), a member of the House of Anjou and the daughter of Charles I of Naples. She was known for her political influence and her role in negotiating alliances between various European royal families.
In the 16th century, Denisa Borková (c. 1530-1590) was a Czech noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in Bohemia. She provided protection and support to Protestant reformers and their followers during a time of religious turmoil.
During the Renaissance period, Denisa Gertrudis Pallavicini (1576-1636) was an Italian noblewoman and poet. She was a member of the influential Pallavicini family and is remembered for her literary contributions, which included poetry and plays.
In more recent times, Denisa Kulová (1917-2005) was a Czech gymnast who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where she won a silver medal in the team combined event.
While the name Denisa has its roots in Slavic cultures, it has since gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe, where it continues to be used as a given name for girls.
People
Denisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Denisa 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
Denisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Denisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 877 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Denisa 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 390,826 US residents.
Is Denisa a common name?
We classify Denisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 994 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Denisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Denisa was 1964, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Denisa is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Denisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,582 people with the name Denisa, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,978 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 Denisa 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 Denisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Denisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,588 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 Denisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denisa is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.8%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Denisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Denisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.0% (1,139 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 Denisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Denisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Denisa 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 Denisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Denisa 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 Denisa 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 are called Denisa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.