Girls' name · peaked in 1970
Dena name popularity since 1925
30,239 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dena. Half of them were born in 1969 or earlier, so the typical Dena is about 57 years old in 2026. Dena peaked in 1970 as the #208 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 30,239
- Named Dena, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,581 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 30,183 girls · 56 boys
- Most popular in
- Oklahoma
- 2.06× its national share
Peak year is the year Dena made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Dena births per year, 1925–2025
1970 was the biggest year for Dena both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1949 and 1954, Dena became 2.1× more common, from 1 in 9,610 baby girls to 1 in 4,550.
- Steepest fall: Between 1984 and 1989, its share of baby girls fell by 51%, from 1 in 4,150 to 1 in 8,460.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Dena's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dena.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dena in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 395 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 674 | 0 | #897 |
| 1940s | 1,259 | 0 | #651 |
| 1950s | 3,956 | 0 | #404 |
| 1960s | 9,174 | 10 | #318 |
| 1970s | 8,504 | 31 | #293 |
| 1980s | 3,614 | 15 | #552 |
| 1990s | 1,310 | 0 | #1,311 |
| 2000s | 709 | 0 | #2,507 |
| 2010s | 406 | 0 | #4,013 |
| 2020–25 | 182 | 0 | #4,581 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
46.2% of babies named Dena from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Dena is most popular
The index compares Dena's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Dena.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 2.06× | 708 |
| Oregon | 1.76× | 435 |
| Kansas | 1.73× | 465 |
| Missouri | 1.55× | 893 |
| Iowa | 1.33× | 447 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Dena and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Dena (this page) | 30,183 | 1970 |
| Denna | 2,366 | 1969 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dena's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dena.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dena (1970).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data