Desiree is the English spelling of the French Désirée, which comes from the Latin desiderata and means "desired" or "longed for", a name given to a long-awaited child. Désirée Clary, the one-time fiancée of Napoleon who became queen of Sweden, is its most famous bearer. In the United States Desiree ranked number 181 in 2000 and has slipped steadily since, leaving the top 1000 in 2018 and standing at number 1429 in 2025.