D is for Denise

Today's the day when I search the origins of my other sibling's name. Also, do you see how they're both at the front of the alphabet and I'm at the back? It's like my parents were trying to make my life dismal (our last name is also, unfortunately, at the rear of the alphabet. And then I went and married a guy whose name is even closer to the back. I learned nothing from 23 years of being last.)

My Denise. I'm kind of slouched, but
even so, you can see how much
taller than me she is. :(

Yeah. So, my sister was named, or so I'm told, for a family friend and one of my favourite babysitters (I don't actually remember the namesake. I think she moved away or something). It's possible I had a hand in choosing my sister's name. I certainly got to choose her middle name, which for the sake of keeping myself alive for a few more years, I shall not reveal. She's not that wild about it.

Denise is also my mother-in-law's name. For the sake of clarity, Chad and I refer to them as "my Denise" and "Cliff's Denise" (Cliff being my father-in-law, in case that's not abundantly clear) when they come up in conversation. We have a handful of friends named Denise as well, complete with variations on the spelling. I had no idea when we were young that there were so many ways to spell Denise.

Denise
Baby Name Wizard says Denise is the "feminine form of Dennis, which is an English cognate of the Greek Dionysios (a follower of the god Dionysos)". There ya go, Neesee; I named you after a Greek god. You're welcome. The name peaked in popularity in the U.S. in the '60s, when it got up to 29th.

Famous Denises: Denise Richards, Denise Austin, Denise Crosby

Fictional Denises: Denise Huxtable (The Cosby Show)

My Denises: Real-life ones already covered. I don't have any Denises in my fiction, for the same "avoid family names" reason given for Billy. It's just easier that way.

Do you know any Denises? Did I miss some really obvious ones (I only list famous people I'm actually familiar with)?