How popular is the baby name Denise in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Denise.

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Popularity of the baby name Denise


Posts that mention the name Denise

What turned Sway into a baby name in 2001?

The character Sway from the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000)
Sara “Sway” Wayland from “Gone in 60 Seconds”

The word Sway popped up for the first time in the U.S. baby name data in 2001:

  • 2003: 14 baby girls and 5 baby boys named Sway
  • 2002: 12 baby girls named Sway
  • 2001: 8 baby girls named Sway [debut]
  • 2000: unlisted
  • 1999: unlisted

For a long time I assumed the main influence was MTV personality Sway Calloway. But, while I still think Sway had an influence on male usage, I’ve since discovered a much better explanation for the 2001 debut as a female name.

One of the main characters in the 2000 car heist film Gone in 60 Seconds was mechanic-slash-bartender Sara “Sway” Wayland (played by Angelina Jolie). She was the love interest of protagonist Randall “Memphis” Raines (played by Nicolas Cage), who was tasked with stealing 50 specific, expensive cars inside of 72 hours.

The film didn’t get great reviews, but I do remember appreciating the fact that each of the 50 cars was assigned a feminine code-name:

Mary, Barbara, Lindsey, Laura, Alma, Madeline, Patricia, Carol, Daniela, Stefanie, Erin, Pamela, Olga, Anne, Kate, Vanessa, Denise, Diane, Lisa, Nadine, Angelina, Rose, Susan, Tracey, Rachel, Bernadene, Deborah, Stacey, Josephine, Hillary, Kimberley, Renee, Dorothy, Donna, Samantha, Ellen, Gabriela, Shannon, Jessica, Sharon, Tina, Marsha, Natalie, Virginia, Tanya, Grace, Ashley, Cathy, Lynn, Eleanor

So, how do you feel about the name Sway? If you were having a baby girl, would you be more likely to name her something modern, like Sway, or something traditional, like Sara or Susan?

Sources: Gone in 60 Seconds (2000 film) – Wikipedia, Talk:Gone in 60 Seconds (2000 film) – Wikipedia

What gave the baby name Coretta a boost in 1968?

Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King with her four children (Yolanda, Bernice, Martin III, Dexter) in 1971
Coretta Scott King and family

The baby name Coretta was the fastest-rising baby name of 1968:

  • 1970: 146 baby girls named Coretta [rank: 903rd]
  • 1969: 194 baby girls named Coretta [rank: 722nd]
  • 1968: 336 baby girls named Coretta [rank: 523rd]
  • 1967: 13 baby girls named Coretta
  • 1966: 16 baby girls named Coretta

The name also saw it’s highest-ever usage that year, as did the variant spelling Corretta. And another spelling, Koretta, appeared for the very first time in the data in 1968.

What was bringing all this attention to the baby name Coretta in 1968?

Coretta Scott King. She was the wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., until his assassination on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. This event put Coretta and her children (Yolanda, Martin III, Dexter, and Bernice*) in the national spotlight.

Not long after the death of her husband, Coretta took Martin’s place as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She was instrumental in establishing the national holiday Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — which happens to be today.

Coretta Scott King was named in honor of her paternal grandmother, Cora. The name Cora is a Latinized form of the ancient Greek name Kore (“maiden”), one of the epithets of the goddess Persephone.

*Usage of the names Yolanda and Dexter also increased markedly in 1968. The usage of Martin, which had been declining, saw an uptick that year. (Peak usage was in 1963, the year of MLK’s legendary “I have a dream” speech.) The usage of Bernice was seemingly unaffected by the assassination.

Incidentally, in her 1969 book My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King talked about the naming of her daughters Yolanda (nicknamed Yoki) and Bernice:

I chose the name Yolanda Denise, but my husband had reservations about it. He questioned whether people would call her Yolanda or would mispronounce the name. He was right. Her name is so frequently mispronounced that it bothered her when she was growing up.

There is a tendency among middle-class African Americans to give their children unusual names. Perhaps they are seeking elegance or some special identification. I fell victim to this custom, rather than following the sensible practice of naming the baby after a member of the family. Later Martin said, “If we ever have another baby girl, I’m going to give her a simple name like Mary Jane.”

When we did have another daughter, we called her Bernice Albertine, after her two grandmothers. Her name was not quite Mary Jane, but at least she was named for members of the family.

Sources: Coretta Scott King – Wikipedia, Cora – Behind the Name, SSA

Image: Adapted from Coretta Scott King and family with NEC President Gunther Schuller by New England Conservatory Archives under CC BY-SA 4.0.

What popularized the baby name Raven?

The death of character Raven Sherman in the comic strip "Terry and the Pirates" (in 1941)
Raven Sherman in “Terry and the Pirates“

The name Raven has been given to babies of both genders for decades, but I find its female usage particularly interesting because girl-name Raven has gotten three distinct boosts from popular culture so far.

The first boost happened in 1941, when Raven debuted as a girl name in the data. (It had already popped up a few times as a boy name.)

Girls named RavenBoys named Raven
194357
194255
19416*.
1940..
*Debut

In October of that year, in the comic strip Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff, a female character named Raven Sherman died in a dramatic and memorable sequence.

Raven, “a WASP clearly modeled on Katharine Hepburn” according to one source, was an American heiress who was working at a camp for war refugees in China. She was pushed off a moving truck, died of her injuries, and was buried on an isolated Chinese hillside. “Caniff was flooded with flower deliveries, mock memorial services, petitions of condolence signed by disparate groups as factory workers and entire colleges, as well as a lot of irate letters.”

(Terry and the Pirates also influenced the names Normandie and Merrily.)

The second pop culture boost happened in the 1970s:

Girls named RavenBoys named Raven
1978342 [rank: 533rd]25
1977299 [rank: 579th]20
197610010
1975179
19741512

In 1976, the soap opera The Edge of Night introduced a female character named Raven Swift (first played by Juanin Clay, then played by Sharon Gabet). She was described as “the show’s delightful young vixen-heroine” in The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. The character remained on the show until it was canceled in 1984.

(The soap also influenced the names Teal and Laurieann.)

And the most recent (and biggest) pop culture boost happened in the early 1990s:

Girls named RavenBoys named Raven
19922,016 [rank: 152nd]89
19912,026 [rank: 150th]53
19901,758 [rank: 166th]62
1989476 [rank: 495th]27
1988327 [rank: 612th]19

It went on to peak at 139th in 1993.

The reason? Actress Raven-Symoné, who first found fame as a four year old when she started playing Olivia (Denise’s step-daughter) on the The Cosby Show in 1989. The compound name Ravensymone debuted in the data in 1990, and the spelling variant Ravensimone followed in 1991. (Her Disney Channel show That’s So Raven didn’t come along until much later.)

What are your thoughts on the name Raven? Would you use it?

Sources:

Numerology: Baby names with a value of 2

Baby names with a numerological value of 2

If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 2, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 2-names.

Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “twos” in numerology?

Turning names into numbers

Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.

First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.

For instance, the letters in the name Aurora correspond to the numbers 1, 21, 18, 15, 18, and 1. The sum of these numbers is 74. The digits of 74 added together equal 11, and the digits of 11 added together equal 2 — the numerological value of Aurora.

Baby names with a value of 2

Below you’ll find the most popular 2-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.

2 via 11

The letters in the following baby names add up to 11, which reduces to two (1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 11)Boy names (2 via 11)
Adea, Fe, AiaAj, Ja, Cabe

2 via 20

The letters in the following baby names add up to 20, which reduces to two (2+0=2).

Girl names (2 via 20)Boy names (2 via 20)
Jade, Dana, Jia, Deja, Ara, HibaAbel, Adan, Gage, Kace, Jai, Ean, Chace, Jade, Fahad

2 via 29

The letters in the following baby names add up to 29, which reduces to two (2+9=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 29)Boy names (2 via 29)
Aria, Alana, Diana, Nadia, Dania, Ann, Sia, Adina, Calla, Asha, Aira, Isa, Sade, Kacie, Aine, BeauBeau, Aidan, Dax, Khai, Isa, Lake, Eliab, Alek, Sai, Kael, Eian, Abiel, Aman

2 via 38

The letters in the following baby names add up to 38, which reduces to two (3+8=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 38)Boy names (2 via 38)
Sadie, Alaina, Nina, Paige, Amina, Aisha, Cecelia, Hanna, Amani, Chaya, Noah, Analia, Aliana, Aleena, Halle, Jamie, Belen, Ocean, Kaya, Frida, Malka, Kaleah, Malak, Agatha, Naima, Keila, Kaeli, Rena, Dora, Nava, Elli, AlyNoah, Max, Bodhi, Jared, Jaime, Ocean, Jamie, Mike, Jair, Gadiel, Cayde, Deon, Isai, Craig, Asiah, Amare, Eddy, Oden, Amani, Bohdi, Ames, Glen, Aren, Naeem, Alpha, Ameen, Zach, Lipa, Nabil, Asael, Chaz, Kamal, Kaz

2 via 47

The letters in the following baby names add up to 47, which reduces to two (4+7=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 47)Boy names (2 via 47)
Sarah, Kamila, Hallie, Rachel, Alora, Leona, Blaire, Reina, Adley, Capri, Iyla, Galilea, Jream, Birdie, Kaiya, Leanna, Renee, Ivana, Avani, Dalilah, Leilah, Liz, Jalani, Myah, Aylah, Maple, Althea, Khari, Juana, Raine, Cambria, Liya, Nadine, Ayat, Tegan, Macey, Amor, Belinda, Ines, Isra, Taya, Adaleigh, Jolee, Roma, Anjali, Banks, Malika, Amarie, Havana, Vaani, Klani, Legend, Kendal, Azara, Cambree, Adrian, Sahar, Taleah, Dearra, Enola, VaniaJohn, Isaiah, Adrian, Legend, Malachi, Omar, Cody, Banks, Damon, Callen, Shane, Zeke, Dario, Rex, Trace, Wes, Khari, Khaza, Crue, Darian, Ivaan, Gerald, Gus, Malaki, Aslan, Loki, Deklan, Arman, Canon, Avian, Deion, Viaan, Advik, Aris, Kota, Nigel, Jream, Jahari, Zaki, Amor, Kato, Tegan, Jhon, Conan, Hart, Maleek, Judge, Bauer, Caesar, Jamin, Khalan

2 via 56

The letters in the following baby names add up to 56, which reduces to two (5+6=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 56)Boy names (2 via 56)
Ivy, Charlie, Norah, Aliyah, Selena, Elianna, Maisie, Armani, Lyra, Emmy, April, Dylan, Noemi, Marina, Arlet, Azaria, Khalani, Aubrie, Sariah, Nori, Sarahi, Kahlani, Haylee, Marian, Ayanna, Jovi, Cassie, Kenya, Denise, Zella, Blayke, Karlie, Noelia, Namari, Isis, Marwa, Alanis, Graciela, Camellia, Moira, Emoni, Kinlee, Arabelle, Hellen, Ananya, Ryla, Miyah, Ruhi, Amorah, Jailani, Kelis, Teigan, Klaire, Romee, Kyara, AnsleeLucas, Dylan, Nolan, Charlie, Felix, Oscar, Mario, Armani, Omari, Pierce, Zayd, Rohan, Yadiel, Jasiel, Will, Jacoby, Kilian, Malikai, Emmet, Davon, Xavi, Jovi, Wolf, Orin, Jordi, Kaito, Jaycob, Lathan, Orhan, Tahir, Damion, Damoni, Jahsiah, Hardy, Namari, Nyle, Ahron, Kayne, Musab, Abubakr, Dutch, Kayleb, Rion, Alexei, Kailer, Ammon, Walt, Arnav

2 via 65

The letters in the following baby names add up to 65, which reduces to two (6+5=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 65)Boy names (2 via 65)
Eloise, Rylee, Isabelle, Palmer, Alondra, Carter, Freyja, Vienna, Bridget, Kelly, Zayla, Chandler, Lenora, Desiree, Marcella, Salome, Lorena, Emberlee, Heather, Carmella, Brinlee, Elissa, Damaris, Aracely, Ashly, Daylin, Alessi, Avalon, Rihanna, Shyla, Addelyn, Calista, Jahzara, Mildred, Dailyn, Raeleigh, Elanor, Avaleigh, Ayzal, Aiyanna, Annabeth, Kenzi, Doris, Jaclyn, Seven, Haylen, Mindy, Devora, Kathy, Saraya, Alyza, Mayeli, Sanvi, Adilyn, Astraea, Larkin, Emorie, Jozie, Kirby, AinsleeCarter, Andrew, Javier, Prince, Collin, Uriel, Shawn, Conor, Chandler, Mylo, Dennis, Eliseo, Loyal, Seven, Lochlan, Reuben, Fisher, Ermias, Henrik, Stefan, Brett, Davion, Palmer, Benito, Kolby, Krish, Gannon, Tariq, Kelly, Rylee, Cosmo, Paulo, Radley, Mylan, Advaith, Dinero, Federico, Korben, Kaeson, Shlok, Daylin, Rivaan, Subhan, Demario, Hayze, Parks, Joniel, Jahsir, Dansby, Deondre, Rainer, Kirby, Ziyad

2 via 74

The letters in the following baby names add up to 74, which reduces to two (7+4=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 74)Boy names (2 via 74)
Aurora, Madelyn, Audrey, Melody, Margot, Zuri, Lennon, Marley, Lucille, London, Daleyza, Camryn, Estella, Winnie, Zaylee, Penny, Paulina, Novalee, Giuliana, Lilyana, Laylani, Raquel, Landry, Elowen, Susan, Antonia, Robyn, Sailor, Lucero, Aryanna, Zamora, Sonya, Maylin, Natalya, Katrina, Acelynn, Maizy, Josey, Zalayah, Emelyn, SahilyJoshua, Easton, Myles, Jesus, Matteo, Messiah, Muhammad, Desmond, Axton, Lennon, Ryland, Tony, Larry, Byron, Cartier, London, Ramiro, Landry, Marley, Wiley, Rylen, Ziggy, Juelz, Agastya, Yakov, Fredrick, Deshawn, Wylie, Kysen, Camryn, Isidro, Gavriel, Nehemias, Mavrik, Jaxyn, Finnigan, Conley, Cross, Orrin, Lucifer, Korey, Demetri, Grayden, Oswald, Vikram, Willem, Jaysen, Sailor, Remmy, Yadriel, Ayush, Dhruva, Elwood

2 via 83

The letters in the following baby names add up to 83, which reduces to two (8+3=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 83)Boy names (2 via 83)
Evelyn, Violet, Margaret, Catherine, Valery, Emmalyn, Giovanna, Addilynn, Memphis, Yuliana, Bentley, Kinsey, Jehilyn, Sury, Harmonie, Berkeley, Klover, Averly, WisdomJonathan, Jaxson, Bentley, Memphis, Alonzo, Shepherd, Forest, Judson, Coleson, Thatcher, Branson, Foster, Mattias, Markus, Milton, Zaylen, Brysen, Stephan, Roderick, Jetson, Stellan, Riggins, Kyron, Wisdom, Hershy

2 via 92

The letters in the following baby names add up to 92, which reduces to two (9+2=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 92)Boy names (2 via 92)
Oaklynn, Sydney, Sylvie, Madilynn, Kaitlyn, Mckinley, Estrella, Marilyn, Sapphire, Everley, Heavenly, Rilynn, Vivianna, Lorraine, Journei, Journie, Rosalind, Kollins, Litzy, Rooney, Harlynn, Porter, Collette, Charlette, Aniston, OzzyJulius, Santino, Porter, Yusuf, Ozzy, Wilson, Salvador, Watson, Zakariya, Khyson, Tyrell, Avrohom, Morris, Lisandro, Jennings, Jarrett, Hamilton, Tyrese, Calloway, Leviathan, Juanpablo, Mckinley, Marvens, Tyron

2 via 101

The letters in the following baby names add up to 101, which reduces to two (1+0+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 101)Boy names (2 via 101)
Josephine, Murphy, Christina, Brynley, Wrenleigh, Kristina, Sherlyn, Jaylynn, Everlyn, Lynette, AllissonChristian, Tristan, Forrest, Murphy, Kristian, Garrison, Brentley, Jovanny, Binyomin, Rustin, Marquez

2 via 110

The letters in the following baby names add up to 110, which reduces to two (1+1+0=2).

Girl names (2 via 110)Boy names (2 via 110)
Loyalty, Stormy, Sullivan, Amaryllis, SparrowTimothy, Sullivan, Quinton, Youssef, Justus, Tristian, Alexzander, Octavius, Tyshawn, Joseluis

2 via 119

The letters in the following baby names add up to 119, which reduces to two (1+1+9=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 119)Boy names (2 via 119)
Gwendolyn, Josselyn, Suttyn, Lovelynn, CarringtonKingstyn, Treyvon, Aristotle, Theodoros, Carrington

2 via 128

The letters in the following baby names add up to 128, which reduces to two (1+2+8=11; 1+1=2).

Girl names (2 via 128)Boy names (2 via 128)
Kensington, Scottlyn, Jazzlynn, Yuritzi, CourtlynVittorio, Remmington, Huckleberry, Quintrell, Florentino

Number 2: Significance and associations

What does the number two mean in numerology?

There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number two. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 2 being described as “diplomatic,” “cooperative,” “peaceful,” “gentle,” and “understanding.”

We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 2:

  • Hands
  • Feet
  • Eyes
  • Ears
  • Lungs
  • Chopsticks
  • Knitting needles
  • Complementary pairings (e.g., pen and paper, bow and arrow, peanut butter and jelly)
  • Dualities (e.g., day and night, yin and yang, war and peace)
  • Boxing (2 competitors; 2 fists)
  • Partner dancing
  • DNA double helix

What does the number 2 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?

P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine.

Sources: SSA, Numerology – Cafe Astrology, The meaning of the numbers 1 – 9 – World Numerology, 2 – Wikipedia

[Latest update: Jan. 2024]