Denae
Feminine variant of Dennis, derived from Greek meaning "follower of Dionysus".
Name Census estimates that about 2,426 living Americans carry the first name Denae. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Denae today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Denae births was 1997 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Denae. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Denae with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 141,284 Americans
Peak year
1997
81 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,453
Tracked since 1953
Census
Denae in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,356 people with the first name Denae, which placed it at #6,720 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
#6,720
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,356 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Denae
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denae is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.2%) and Hispanic (12.1%). 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 Denae 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 Denae at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.7% · 1,217
- Black or African American27.2% · 641
- Hispanic or Latino12.1% · 284
- Two or more races6.6% · 156
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 16
Popularity
Denae: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Denae from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 673 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
Denae 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 Denae during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Denaes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Denae, while Washington, New Mexico, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Denae
The name Denae has its origins rooted in ancient Greece, deriving from the name Danaë, a figure in Greek mythology. It is believed to have emerged during the classical period, around the 5th century BCE. The name Danaë is likely connected to the ancient Greek word "danos," meaning "parched" or "arid," potentially alluding to the dry and barren regions of Greece.
Danaë was a prominent character in Greek legends, most notably in the myth of Perseus. According to the tale, Danaë was the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos, who was warned by an oracle that his grandson would ultimately cause his demise. In a desperate attempt to prevent this prophecy from fulfilling itself, Acrisius imprisoned Danaë in a bronze chamber. However, Zeus, the king of the gods, took the form of a golden shower and impregnated Danaë, resulting in the birth of the legendary hero Perseus.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Denae can be traced back to the Byzantine Empire, where it was used as a variation of the original Greek name Danaë. During this time, the name was borne by several notable figures, including Denae of Constantinople (circa 950 CE), a renowned scholar and philosopher who contributed significantly to the intellectual discourse of her era.
In the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Italy and France. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Denae Boccaccio (1313-1375), an Italian scholar and humanist who played a crucial role in reviving classical Greek and Roman literature during the Renaissance.
In the 18th century, the name Denae found its way into the English-speaking world, with notable individuals such as Denae Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), a British writer and philosopher who was a pioneering advocate for women's rights and is considered one of the foundational figures of modern feminism.
Another prominent figure with this name was Denae Austen (1775-1817), the renowned English novelist known for her insightful depictions of the gentry society of her time, penning literary masterpieces such as "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility."
As the name Denae transitioned into the modern era, it continued to be borne by influential individuals across various fields, including Denae Callas (1923-1977), the legendary Greek-American opera singer renowned for her powerful and expressive performances on the world's most prestigious stages.
People
Denae + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Denae 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
Denae: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Denae?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,426 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Denae 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 141,284 US residents.
Is Denae a common name?
We classify Denae as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,564 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Denae most popular?
The single biggest year for Denae was 1997, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Denae is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Denae in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,356 people with the name Denae, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,720 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 Denae 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 Denae?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Denae appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,353 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Denae?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denae is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Black (27.2%) and Hispanic (12.1%). 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 Denae most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Denae in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.7% (1,217 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 Denae in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Denae a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Denae 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 Denae still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Denae 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 Denae 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 called Denae?
You can see how many people share the name Denae on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.