Girls' name · peaked in 1964
Denise name popularity since 1925
374,260 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Denise. Half of them were born in 1963 or earlier, so the typical Denise is about 63 years old in 2026. Denise peaked in 1964 as the #25 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 374,260
- Named Denise, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,677 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 372,893 girls · 1,367 boys
- Most popular in
- Rhode Island
- 1.95× its national share
Peak year is the year Denise made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Denise births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1961. Measured as a share of all babies, Denise peaked in 1964.
- Fastest rise: Between 1947 and 1952, Denise became 6.6× more common, from 1 in 1,040 baby girls to 1 in 159.
- Steepest fall: Between 2020 and 2025, its share of baby girls fell by 60%, from 1 in 5,270 to 1 in 13,100.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Denise's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Denise.
Decade by decade
Babies named Denise in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 383 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 1,646 | 5 | #511 |
| 1940s | 10,105 | 17 | #273 |
| 1950s | 123,783 | 321 | #23 |
| 1960s | 128,824 | 457 | #28 |
| 1970s | 55,868 | 243 | #64 |
| 1980s | 25,113 | 205 | #120 |
| 1990s | 13,747 | 91 | #216 |
| 2000s | 9,062 | 23 | #342 |
| 2010s | 3,319 | 0 | #997 |
| 2020–25 | 1,043 | 5 | #1,677 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
54.8% of babies named Denise from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Denise is most popular
The index compares Denise's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Denise.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | 1.95× | 2,586 |
| District of Columbia | 1.86× | 3,208 |
| New Jersey | 1.58× | 16,258 |
| New York | 1.54× | 43,865 |
| Pennsylvania | 1.49× | 28,430 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Denise and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Denise (this page) | 372,893 | 1964 |
| Denisse | 7,370 | 2020 |
| Dennise | 3,488 | 2001 |
| Denese | 1,588 | 1954 |
| Denyse | 1,329 | 1969 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Denise's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Denise.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Denise (1964).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data