girl's name
Desiree
dez-i-RAY
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 92,818
Northern Ireland
#368
2003 births
Desiree means desired, and it began as a Puritan virtue name rather than a French one — Desiderius was a late Roman Christian name for a longed-for child, and French inherited it before English did.
- Desiree is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 1983, when 2,925 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 21,956 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1910.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Desiree over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 20 |
| 1920s | 52 |
| 1930s | 42 |
| 1940s | 148 |
| 1950s | 3,063 |
| 1960s | 7,167 |
| 1970s | 9,907 |
| 1980s | 21,901 |
| 1990s | 23,527 |
| 2000s | 12,825 |
| 2010s | 3,855 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,254 |
What Desiree means
Desiree means desired, or longed for. The French past participle of désirer describes something done to the bearer, so the name marks her as wanted rather than wanting.
Where Desiree comes from
Desiree is the French désirée, the feminine past participle of désirer, to desire, from the Latin desiderare — literally to note the absence of, built on sidus, a star, from the language of augury. Behind it stands Desiderius, a name given by late Roman Christians to a child long hoped for. Désirée Clary was engaged to Napoleon and became queen of Sweden, which is where the name's nineteenth-century currency comes from.
Desiree in use
Desiree peaked in the United States in 1983, when 2,925 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in four of the seven markets we track — 1431st in the United States on 151 births, 1906th in Canada, 2718th in France on 10 and 2903rd in England and Wales on 9 — across 92,818 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1880.
How popular is Desiree?
In 2025, Desiree was given to 151 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Desiree is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Desiree is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Désirée | Désirée is a rare spelling of Desiree, written with an acute accent and recorded about 295 times, mostly in France. | 295 |
| Desirée | Desirée is a rare spelling of Desiree, written with an acute accent and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Desiree
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Desiree also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Desiree over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Desiree
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Desiree in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Desiree
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Desiree — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Desiree
What does the name Desiree mean?
Desired — the French past participle of désirer, so it means one who was longed for.
Is desire related to stars?
The Latin desiderare is built on sidus, a star, from the vocabulary of augury.
Who was Désirée Clary?
Napoleon's former fiancée, who became queen of Sweden — the source of the name's nineteenth-century currency.
How popular is Desiree?
1431st in the United States, down from a 1983 peak of 2,925 births.
Is Desiree a girl's or a boy's name?
Desiree is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Desiree?
Desiree has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Desiree?
Desiree is usually shortened to Desi.
Is Desiree a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Desiree currently ranks #1,431 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.