Lise
A feminine given name of French origin meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 2,178 living Americans carry the first name Lise. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lise today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lise births was 1959 (157 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lise. 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 Lise with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 157,371 Americans
Peak year
1959
157 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,633
Tracked since 1922
Census
Lise in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,939 people with the first name Lise, which placed it at #4,648 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
#4,648
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,939 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lise
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lise is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Lise 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 Lise at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.3% · 3,322
- Black or African American7.2% · 283
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 137
- Two or more races2.4% · 95
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 17
Popularity
Lise: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lise from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,084 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lise 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 Lise during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lises live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Lise, while Minnesota, Kansas, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lise
The name Lise is a feminine given name with origins in the Germanic languages. It is a short form of the name Elisabeth, which derives from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "God is my oath." The name Lise first emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, as a diminutive form of Elisabeth.
In its early history, the name Lise was particularly popular in Northern European countries, such as Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It was also commonly used in France, where it was often spelled as "Lise" or "Lise."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lise can be found in the 13th-century French epic poem "The Song of Roland," where a character named Lise is mentioned. However, it is uncertain whether this was a reference to the name or simply a descriptive term.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lise. One of the most famous was Lise Meitner (1878-1968), an Austrian-Swedish physicist who played a crucial role in the discovery of nuclear fission. Another notable figure was Lise Nørgaard (1917-1995), a Danish author and journalist who wrote numerous works of fiction and non-fiction.
In the world of art, Lise Tréhot (1848-1922) was a French painter and model who was a frequent subject of the Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Lise Deharme (1898-1980), a French writer and artist, was also a prominent figure in the Surrealist movement.
The name Lise has also been associated with royalty. Queen Lise of Denmark (1697-1689) was the consort of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway, and played an influential role in the cultural and political affairs of her time.
While the name Lise has maintained its popularity in certain regions, particularly in Scandinavia and parts of Europe, it has also gained wider recognition globally. The name's enduring appeal lies in its simple elegance and historical significance, which have made it a timeless choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Lise + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lise 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
Lise: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lise?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,178 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lise 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 157,371 US residents.
Is Lise a common name?
We classify Lise as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lise most popular?
The single biggest year for Lise was 1959, when 157 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lise is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lise in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,939 people with the name Lise, or 1.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,648 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 Lise 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 Lise?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lise appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,940 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Lise?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lise is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Lise most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lise in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.3% (3,322 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 Lise in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lise a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lise 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 Lise still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lise 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 Lise 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 Lise?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Lise, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.