Desaree
A modern invention inspired by the French desir, meaning "desire".
Name Census estimates that about 639 living Americans carry the first name Desaree. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Desaree today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Desaree births was 1990 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Desaree. 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
639
~ 1 in 536,392 Americans
Peak year
1990
34 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,872
Tracked since 1921
Census
Desaree in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 580 people with the first name Desaree, which placed it at #18,544 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
#18,544
National first-name rank
People counted
580
580 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
34.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Desaree
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Desaree is White at 34.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.4%) and Hispanic (25.5%). 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 Desaree 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 Desaree at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White34.5% · 200
- Black or African American31.4% · 182
- Hispanic or Latino25.5% · 148
- Two or more races7.6% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 6
Popularity
Desaree: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Desaree from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 250 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
Desaree 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 Desaree during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Desarees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Desaree, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Desaree
The name Desaree is believed to have its origins in the French language, derived from the combination of the words "désir" (meaning desire) and "aimée" (meaning beloved). It is thought to have emerged during the Middle Ages, possibly in the regions of northern France or Normandy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Desaree can be traced back to a 13th-century French noblewoman named Desaree de Montfort, who was known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in the Crusades. Another notable figure bearing this name was Desaree de Valois, a 15th-century French duchess who played a significant role in the reconciliation between the houses of Burgundy and Orleans during the Hundred Years' War.
In the realm of literature, the name Desaree appears in a few works, such as the 16th-century French romance novel "Les Amours de Desaree et Clovis" by Pierre de Ronsard. This novel chronicles the love story between a beautiful maiden named Desaree and a young nobleman named Clovis, providing a glimpse into the cultural significance of the name during the Renaissance period.
Moving forward in history, one notable figure was Desaree Boulanger, a 19th-century French painter and sculptor who gained recognition for her portraiture and allegorical works. She was born in 1824 and passed away in 1890.
Another influential individual with the name Desaree was Desaree Armanville, a French-Canadian writer and activist who lived from 1892 to 1976. She was a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement and advocated for social and political reforms in Quebec during the early 20th century.
In the realm of music, Desaree Lefebvre was a renowned French soprano who graced the stages of renowned opera houses across Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was born in 1865 and died in 1938, leaving behind a legacy of captivating performances and contributions to the operatic arts.
While the name Desaree has French origins, it has found its way into various cultures and languages over time, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its connection to the concepts of desire and affection remains a consistent thread throughout its history.
People
Desaree + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Desaree 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
Desaree: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Desaree?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 639 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Desaree 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 536,392 US residents.
Is Desaree a common name?
We classify Desaree as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 678 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Desaree most popular?
The single biggest year for Desaree was 1990, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Desaree is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Desaree in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 580 people with the name Desaree, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,544 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 Desaree 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 Desaree?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Desaree appears almost entirely female. Of the 576 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 Desaree?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Desaree is White at 34.5%. The next largest groups are Black (31.4%) and Hispanic (25.5%). 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 Desaree most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Desaree in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.5% (200 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 Desaree in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Desaree a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Desaree 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 Desaree still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Desaree 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 Desaree 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 common is the name Desaree?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Desaree on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.