Gender: Masculine
Origin: French
Meaning: “longing; desire.”
(DEE-dyay)

The name is an old French form of Desiderius, which is from the Latin desiderium, meaning, “longing; desire.”

The name was borne by a 6th century French Bishop, who later resigned his seat and lived a life of poverty as a hermit. He founded a monastery in Vosges and his feast day is celebrated on June 19th.

Popular French nicknames include Die and Didi.

Other forms include:

• Dider (Breton)
• Dezsér (Hungarian)
• Dezsider (Hungarian)
• Dezső (Hungarian)
• Dero/Derio (Italian)
• Derino (Italian)
• Desiderio (Italian)
• Desio (Italian)
• Desiderius (Latin/Dutch/German)
• Dezydery (Polish)
• Desidério (Portuguese)
• Dezideriu (Romanian)
• Dezider (Slovene)

Feminine forms include:

• Didière (French)
• Desideria (Italian/Spanish)
• Desidera (Italian)
• Dera/Derina (Italian)
• Desia (Italian)
• Dezyderia (Polish)
• Desidéria (Portuguese)

The name Desirée is related but has a slightly different etymology, hence, I shall have a separate entry.