Liese
A feminine name of German origin meaning "pledged to God".
Name Census estimates that about 115 living Americans carry the first name Liese. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Liese today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Liese births was 1961 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Liese. 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
115
~ 1 in 2,980,473 Americans
Peak year
1961
16 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1980 SSA rank
#11,356
Tracked since 1954
Census
Liese in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 257 people with the first name Liese, which placed it at #32,623 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
#32,623
National first-name rank
People counted
257
257 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Liese
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liese is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Liese 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 Liese at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.1% · 229
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 13
- Two or more races3.9% · 10
- Black or African American0.8% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Liese: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Liese from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 88 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Liese 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 Liese during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lieses live
Origin
Meaning and history of Liese
The name Liese is of German origin, derived from the medieval German form of the name Elizabeth, which itself comes from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "God is my oath." The name Liese emerged as a diminutive or shortened version of Elizabeth, likely around the 13th or 14th century in German-speaking regions of Europe.
In the Middle Ages, Liese was a popular name among German and Dutch families, particularly in areas such as Bavaria, Saxony, and the Low Countries. It was often used as a name for girls born into farming or peasant families, reflecting its humble origins.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Liese can be found in the medieval German epic poem "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach, written around 1200-1210. In the poem, Liese is mentioned as the name of a servant or maid.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Liese. One such example is Liese-Lotte Reichau (1908-1990), a German actress and singer who appeared in numerous films during the 1930s and 1940s.
Another prominent Liese was Liese Prokop (1941-2006), an Austrian interior designer and architect who was known for her innovative furniture designs and her work on residential and commercial projects.
In the realm of literature, Liese Nehrlich (1913-1983) was a German writer and poet who published several collections of poems and short stories during her lifetime.
The name Liese also has a connection to the world of music through Liese Klug (1904-1976), a German operatic soprano who performed at the Bavarian State Opera and other notable venues in the mid-20th century.
Lastly, Liese Rickelt (1932-2019) was a German volleyball player who represented West Germany at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she won a silver medal as part of the women's volleyball team.
People
Liese + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Liese as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Liese: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Liese?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 115 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Liese 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 2,980,473 US residents.
Is Liese a common name?
We classify Liese as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Liese most popular?
The single biggest year for Liese was 1961, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Liese is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Liese in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 257 people with the name Liese, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,623 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 Liese 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 Liese?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Liese appears almost entirely female. Of the 256 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 Liese?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liese is White at 89.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Liese most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Liese in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (229 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 Liese in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Liese a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Liese 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 Liese still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Liese 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 Liese 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 Americans are named Liese?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.