Denise (given name)

Denise
Pronunciation	/dəˈniːs/ də-NES or; /dəˈniːz/ də-NEEZ
Gender	Female
Origin
Word/name	Greek / Roman mythology
Meaning	to be devoted to Bacchus
Region of origin	France
Other names
Related names	Dennis, Denis, Denny, Dennie, Denni, Denisa, Nisey

Last updated July 15, 2025

Denise, with several spelling variations, is a female given name. Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, and the name Denise means "to be devoted to Bacchus."^[1]^[2]

Feminine variants

Deneece, Denice, Deniece, Denyse: English
Denisa: Czech, Romanian, Russian, Slovak
Denise: English, French, Portuguese
Denisse: English, French
Deniz: Turkish
Dennet, Denote, Deonisia, Deonysia: Middle English
Dinisia: Portuguese
Dionycia, Dionis: Middle English
Dionise: Old French (on St. Denise's burial site)^[3]
Dionísia: Portuguese
Dionisia: Middle English, Italian, Spanish
Dionizja: Polish
Dionysia: Greek (Διονυσία), Latin, Middle English
Diot, Diota, Dye, Dyonese, Dyonisia, Dyonisya, Dyot, Dyota: Middle English

Masculine variants

Dénes: Hungarian
Denis: English, French, German, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Czech, Russian (Денис), Serbo-Croatian (also Денис)
Denijs: Middle Dutch
Deniz: Turkish language
Dêniz: Portuguese (Brazilian)
Dennis: English, Dutch, German, Norwegian
Denny: English
Denys (Денис): Ukrainian
Dinis, Diniz, Dionísio: Portuguese
Dion: English, French (medieval diminutive), Greek (diminutive: Δίων)
Dionigi: Italian
Dionise: Romanian
Dionisije (Дионисије): Serbian
Dionisio: Italian, Spanish
Dionisos (Դիոնիսոս): Armenian
Dionizy: Polish
Dionysios (Διονύσιος): Greek
Dionýz: Slovak
Dénes: Hungarian
Donnchadh: Irish
Dzianis (Дзяніс): Belarusian
Genis (Генис): Udmurt

Notable people named Denise

In television and film

Denise Alexander (born 1939), American actress
Denise Barbacena (born 1994), Filipina actress, singer and comedienne
Denise Coffey (1936–2022), British actress, director and playwright
Denise Crosby (born 1957), American actress
Denise Dowse (1958–2022), American actress and director
Denise Drysdale (born 1948), Australian television personality and comedian
Denise Gough (born 1980), Irish actress
Denise Joaquin, Filipina actress
Denise Keller (born 1982), Singaporean model and MTV Asia host
Denise Laurel (born 1987), Filipina actress and singer
Denise Nickerson (1957–2019), American actress
Denise Richards (born 1971), American actress
Denise Schindler (born 1985), German Paralympic cyclist
Denise Stapley (born 1971), American television personality and sex therapist
Denise Camillia Tan (born 1992), Malaysian-based Singaporean actress
Denise van Outen (born 1974), English actress, singer and TV presenter
Denise Welch (born 1958), English actress and television presenter
Denise Nicholas (born 1944), American actress, author, and activist

In music

Denise Ho (born 1977), singer from Hong Kong
Denise Lor (1929–2015), American singer
Denise Pearson (born 1968), English singer-songwriter and lead singer of British pop group Five Star

Sportspeople

Denise Hannema (born 1990), Dutch cricketer
Denise Lewis (born 1972), British heptathlete
Denise O'Connor (born 1935), American Olympic fencer

Politicians

Denise Allen (1953–2022), Australian politician
Denise Andrews (born 1959), American politician from Massachusetts
Denise Apt (1929–2014), American politician from Kansas
Denise Bastide (1916–1952), French politician
Denise Batters (born 1970), Canadian politician
Denise Baum, American politician from Montana
Denise Bucumi-Nkurunziza (born 1969), Burundian ordained minister who was First Lady of Burundi
Denise Brewer (born 1966), American politician from Oklahoma
Denise Bronzetti (born 1972), Sammarinese politician
Denise Campbell (born 1964), American politician from West Virginia
Denise Daley, Jamaican politician
Denise Dittrich (born 1957), American politician from Minnesota
Denise Driehaus (born 1963), American politician from Ohio
Denise Everhart (born 1954), American politician from Kansas
Denise Frossard (born 1950), Brazilian politician
Denise Garner (born 1956), American politician from Arkansas
Denise George, U.S. Virgin Islands politician
Denise Harlow, American politician from Maine
Denise Leblanc-Bantey, Canadian politician
Denise Lee (born 1970), New Zealand politician
Denise Loop (born 1994), German politician
Denise Majette (born 1955), American politician from Georgia
Denise Mentzer, American politician from Michigan
Denise Merrill (born 1948), American politician from Connecticut
Denise Mitchell (born 1976), Irish politician
Denise Moreno Ducheny (born 1952), American politician
Denise Phua (born 1959), Singaporean politician
Denise Poirier-Rivard (born 1941), Canadian politician
Denise Provost (born 1951), American politician from Massachusetts
Denise Robinson, South African politician
Denise Roche (born 1963), New Zealand politician
Denise Savoie (born 1943), Canadian politician
Denise Sinankwa, Burundian politician
Denise Trudel (born 1955), Canadian politician
Denise Villalobos, American politician
Denise Woollard (born 1946), Canadian politician

In other fields

Denise Austin (born 1957), American fitness expert
Denise Domenach-Lallich (1924–2020), French resistance member
Denise Levertov (1923–1977), American poet
Denise Pumain (born 1946), French geographer
Denise Quiñones (born 1980), Miss Universe 2001 from Puerto Rico
Denise Weston Austin (1925–1997), Northern Irish zookeeper

Deneice

Deniece Williams (born 1951), American singer

Denese

Denese Becker (born 1937), Guatemalan survivor of the Rio Negro massacre
Denese Oates (born 1955), Australian sculptor

Denyce

Denyce Graves (born 1964), American opera singer
Denyce Lawton (born 1978), American actress and model

Denyse

Fictional characters

Denise, a secondary character on Monica's Gang
Denise, Phoebe Buffay's roommate in NBC sitcom Friends
Denise, a character in The Muppets who is Kermit the Frog's new significant other
Denise Best (née Royle), on the British sitcom The Royle Family
Denise Fox, on the British soap opera EastEnders
Denise Hemphill, on the satirical black comedy slasher series Scream Queens
Denise Huxtable, on the sitcom The Cosby Show and its spin-off A Different World
Denise Prime, French name for Dilys Price, fictional character on the animated series Fireman Sam
Denise, a localized name for Kurama, in the Tagalog dub of YuYu Hakusho (known in the Philippines as Ghost Fighter)
Denise (The Big Bang Theory)

Nickname

Andrée Borrel (1919–1944), French heroine of World War II, with SOE F codename Denise

References

↑ "Denisse" . Retrieved 2009-01-08.
↑ "baby name meaning, origin, and description of Biblical character" . Retrieved 2009-01-08.
↑ "Le quartier". Comité des Fêtes de Yernawe. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009 – via Internet Archive.

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[1] "Denisse" . Retrieved 2009-01-08.

[2] "baby name meaning, origin, and description of Biblical character" . Retrieved 2009-01-08.

[3] "Le quartier". Comité des Fêtes de Yernawe. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009 – via Internet Archive.

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