Meaning of the nameDenise

Denise is a female name of French origin, the feminine form of Denis, which comes from Greek Dionýsios, linked to the god Dionysus.

Meaning

The meaning of Denise is not known for certain. No reliable source documents it, so we give none; below are the origin of the spelling and the official figures.

People (2022): 154,426
Rank in Brazil: #216
Median age: 42 years
2010 Census: 169,315; people

Denise in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Denise, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1980s (43,277 people).

153,838 women 588 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Denise is most common

States with the highest share of people named Denise in the population, in the 2022 Census.

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	41,313	0.093%
Rio de Janeiro	20,689	0.129%
Minas Gerais	15,741	0.077%
Rio Grande do Sul	14,666	0.135%
Paraná	9,852	0.086%
Santa Catarina	7,627	0.100%
Bahia	7,477	0.053%
Pará	4,313	0.053%
Goiás	4,279	0.061%
Pernambuco	3,712	0.041%
Maranhão	3,364	0.050%
Ceará	2,541	0.029%
Distrito Federal	2,450	0.087%
Espírito Santo	2,001	0.052%
Paraíba	1,716	0.043%
Piauí	1,651	0.051%
Mato Grosso	1,622	0.044%
Mato Grosso do Sul	1,567	0.057%
Alagoas	1,439	0.046%
Amazonas	1,433	0.036%
Sergipe	1,330	0.060%
Rio Grande do Norte	1,311	0.040%
Rondônia	817	0.052%
Tocantins	679	0.045%
Amapá	378	0.052%
Roraima	253	0.040%
Acre	205	0.025%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Denise

The Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil gives Denise as coming from French, the feminine of Denis, a name that has the variant Dinis in Portuguese; citing Machado (1981), it links Denis, through Latin, to Greek Diónysos, 'Greek name of the god Bacchus'. Behind the Name also gives Denise as the French feminine of Denis and traces the name to Dionysios, derived from the name of the god Dionysus. The meaning of Dionysus is uncertain: Behind the Name mentions a possible link to Diós, 'of Zeus', and notes that some authors do not even consider it to be of Greek origin. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 154,426 people named Denise, almost always women, with a median age of 42; proportionally, the name is most common in Rio Grande do Sul.

Sources

Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Denise · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · origin
Behind the Name: Denise · behindthename.com · origin
Behind the Name: Dionysios · behindthename.com · origin
Behind the Name: Dionysos · behindthename.com · origin

Questions about the name Denise

What does the name Denise mean?

The meaning of Denise is not known for certain: no reliable source documents it. So we give no meaning; the page shows the origin of the spelling and the official figures.

How many people are named Denise in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 154,426 people with the first name Denise, which ranks it number 216 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1980s.

Is Denise a boy's or a girl's name?

Denise is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 153,838 women and 588 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Denise?

Denise is a name of French and Greek origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Denise most common?

Proportionally, in Rio Grande do Sul: 0.135% of the state's population is named Denise (14,666 people), according to the 2022 Census.

More names of French origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Denise with a source. See the methodology.