NameChart

Dennis

Boy name

Dennis has been given to 623,692 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1952 and currently ranks #707 for boys (2025).

Meaning & origin /ˈdɛnɪs/

From Middle English Denis, from Old French saint's name Denis, brought to England by Normans; from Latin Dionysius, a masculine name literally meaning “follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”.

Origin: Ancient Greek

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025

06.138k12.276k18.414k24.552k 18801900192019401960198020002020 Girls Boys
Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

623,692

Peak year

1952 (24,605 babies)

Rank in 2025

#707 for boys

First recorded

1880

10-year trend

▼ -36%

Gender split

0% girls / 100% boys

Famous people named Dennis

Dennis M. Ritchie

American computer scientist, co-inventor of the Unix operating system and the C programming language

Dennis Gabor

Nobel Prize-winning physicist and inventor of holography

Dennis Hopper

American actor and film director (1936–2010)

Dennis Bergkamp

Dutch association football player (born 1969)

Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).

Names with a similar vibe

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Dennis.

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