Denise (given name)

For other uses, see Denise (disambiguation).

Denisse

Pronunciation	/dəˈniːs/ də-NES or /dəˈniːz/ də-NEEZ
Gender	feminine/masculine
Origin
Word/name	Greek / Roman mythology
Meaning	to be devoted to Bacchus
Region of origin	France
Other names
Related names	Dennis

Denise is a female given name. The name Denise is said to be of French origin. Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, and the name Denise means "to be devoted to Bacchus."

Feminine variants

• Deneece, Denice, Deniece, Denni, Denny, Deny 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)
• 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 bearers

In television and film:

• Denise Alexander (born 1939), American actress
• Denise Crosby (born 1957), American actress
• Denise Dowse (born 1958), American actress and director
• Denise Drysdale (born 1948), Australian television personality and comedian, and her self-titled show Denise
• Denise Keller (born 1982), Singaporean model and MTV Asia host
• Denise Nickerson (1957–2019), American actress
• Denise Richards (born 1971), American actress
• Denise Schindler (born 1985), German Paralympic cyclist
• Denyse Tontz (born 1994), American actress, model, and singer
• Denise van Outen (born 1974), English actress, singer and TV presenter
• Denise Welch (born 1958), English actress and television presenter

In music:

• Denyce Graves (born 1964), American opera singer
• Denise Ho (born 1977), singer from Hong Kong
• Denise Lor (1929–2015), American singer
• Deniece Williams (born 1951), American singer
• Denise Pearson (born 1968), English singer-songwriter and lead singer of British pop group Five Star

In sport:

• Denise Hannema (born 1990), Dutch cricketer
• Denyse Julien (born 1960), Canadian badminton player
• Denise Lewis (born 1972), British heptathlete
• Denise O'Connor (born 1935), American Olympic fencer

In other fields:

• Denise Austin (born 1957), American fitness expert
• Denese Becker (born 1973), Guatemalan refugee
• Denise Domenach-Lallich (1924–2020), French resistance member
• Denise Levertov (1923–1977), American poet
• Denise Moreno Ducheny (born 1952), American politician
• Denise Pumain (born 1946), French geographer
• Denise Quiñones (born 1980), Miss Universe 2001 from Puerto Rico

Fictional characters:

• Denise, a character in The Muppets who is Kermit the Frog's new significant other
• Denise Huxtable, fictional character on the sitcom The Cosby Show and its spin-off A Different World

Nickname

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

See also

• Dennis
• Deniz (given name), pronounced similarly in Turkish