Dessire
A feminine name of French origin signifying a wish or desire.
Name Census estimates that about 90 living Americans carry the first name Dessire. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dessire today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dessire births was 2001 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dessire. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dessire. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
90
~ 1 in 3,808,382 Americans
Peak year
2001
10 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,844
Tracked since 1982
Census
Dessire in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 248 people with the first name Dessire, which placed it at #33,395 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
#33,395
National first-name rank
People counted
248
248 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
74.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dessire
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dessire is Hispanic at 74.6%. The next largest groups are White (13.7%) and Black (8.9%). 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 Dessire 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 Dessire at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino74.6% · 185
- White13.7% · 34
- Black or African American8.9% · 22
- Two or more races2.8% · 7
Popularity
Dessire: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dessire from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 49 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dessire 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 Dessire 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 Dessire
The given name Dessire is a relatively obscure and uncommon name, and as such, its linguistic origins and historical background are somewhat uncertain. However, there are a few plausible theories about its possible roots and usage over time.
One theory suggests that Dessire could be a variant or derivative of the French word "désirer," which means "to desire" or "to wish for." This would align with the name's connotation of longing or aspiration. However, the exact transition from the French verb to a proper name is unclear, and there are no definitive records of its widespread use in French-speaking regions.
Another possibility is that Dessire originates from a combination of the Latin prefix "de-," meaning "from" or "away from," and the word "sire," which was a respectful term of address for a man of high rank or nobility. In this context, the name could potentially signify someone of distinguished or aristocratic lineage, although concrete evidence to support this theory is lacking.
While there are no known occurrences of the name Dessire in ancient texts or religious scriptures, a few notable individuals throughout history have borne this name, although their biographical details are limited.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dessire was a French artist and painter from the early 18th century, Dessire Boucher (1700-1768), known for his portraits and landscapes. Another figure was Dessire LaFleur (1792-1865), a French-Canadian fur trader and explorer who traversed the Canadian wilderness in the early 19th century.
In more recent times, Dessire Williamson (1876-1944) was an American educator and advocate for women's rights, who founded several schools and organizations dedicated to promoting education and gender equality. Dessire Monique (1920-1998) was a French-born actress and dancer who performed in various Broadway productions and Hollywood films during the mid-20th century.
Lastly, Dessire Kapoor (1945-2021) was an Indian-born artist and sculptor whose works were exhibited in galleries across Europe and Asia, gaining recognition for her unique style blending traditional and contemporary elements.
While the name Dessire may not be as prevalent or well-documented as some others, these individuals serve as examples of its sporadic usage throughout history, spanning different cultures, professions, and eras.
People
Dessire + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dessire 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
Dessire: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dessire?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 90 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dessire 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 3,808,382 US residents.
Is Dessire a common name?
We classify Dessire as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dessire most popular?
The single biggest year for Dessire was 2001, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dessire is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dessire in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 248 people with the name Dessire, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,395 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 Dessire 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 Dessire?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dessire appears almost entirely female. Of the 244 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 Dessire?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dessire is Hispanic at 74.6%. The next largest groups are White (13.7%) and Black (8.9%). 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 Dessire most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dessire in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.6% (185 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 Dessire in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dessire a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dessire 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 Dessire still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dessire 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 Dessire 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 have the name Dessire?
See how many Americans are named Dessire on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.