Denyse
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "follower of Dionysus".
Name Census estimates that about 1,033 living Americans carry the first name Denyse. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Denyse today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Denyse births was 1956 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Denyse. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 331,805 Americans
Peak year
1956
43 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2017 SSA rank
#13,060
Tracked since 1927
Census
Denyse in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,621 people with the first name Denyse, which placed it at #8,814 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
#8,814
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,621 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Denyse
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denyse is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Hispanic (13.8%). 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 Denyse 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 Denyse at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.3% · 1,058
- Black or African American14.3% · 231
- Hispanic or Latino13.8% · 223
- Two or more races3.8% · 61
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 10
Popularity
Denyse: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Denyse from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 306 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
Denyse 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 Denyse during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Denyses live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Denyse, while Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Denyse
The name Denyse has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is derived from the name Dionysius, which was a masculine name honoring the Greek god Dionysus, the deity of wine, vegetation, pleasure, and festivity. The name Dionysius translates to "follower of Dionysus" or "devoted to Dionysus."
Over time, the name Dionysius underwent various transformations and adaptations across different cultures and languages. In French, it evolved into the feminine form Denise, which then gave rise to the variant spelling Denyse. This transition from the masculine to the feminine form was common in the adaptation of ancient Greek names into other languages.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Denyse can be traced back to medieval France. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Denise of France (1164-1194), a French princess and the daughter of King Louis VII of France. She was engaged to be married to Richard the Lionheart, but she died before the marriage could take place.
Another notable historical figure with the name Denyse was Denise Levert (1923-1997), a French actress and writer. She appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career, which spanned over six decades. Denyse Levert was born in Paris and was active in the entertainment industry from the 1940s until her death in 1997.
In the religious realm, Saint Denise of Rome (c. 258-268) was a Christian martyr who was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Aurelian. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, and her feast day is celebrated on October 15th.
Moving forward in history, Denyse Saunders (1957-1964) was a British child actor who appeared in several films and television shows in the early 1960s. She tragically died at the age of seven in a car accident, cutting her promising career short.
Another notable bearer of the name was Denyse Rivard (1918-2009), a Canadian writer and journalist. She was a prolific author, publishing numerous novels, short stories, and plays throughout her career. Denyse Rivard was highly regarded in the literary circles of Quebec and received several prestigious awards for her contributions to Canadian literature.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Denyse throughout history, spanning various fields and cultures. The name's origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, and its evolution and adaptation into different languages have contributed to its enduring presence across the centuries.
People
Denyse + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Denyse 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
Denyse: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Denyse?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,033 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Denyse 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 331,805 US residents.
Is Denyse a common name?
We classify Denyse as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,329 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Denyse most popular?
The single biggest year for Denyse was 1956, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Denyse is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Denyse in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,621 people with the name Denyse, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,814 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 Denyse 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 Denyse?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Denyse appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,625 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Denyse?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denyse is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Hispanic (13.8%). 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 Denyse most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Denyse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.3% (1,058 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 Denyse in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Denyse a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Denyse 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 Denyse still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Denyse 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 Denyse 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 named Denyse?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.