Boys' name · peaked in 1952
Denis name popularity since 1925
20,851 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Denis (4.2% girls, 95.8% boys). Half of them were born in 1959 or earlier, so the typical Denis is about 67 years old in 2026. Denis peaked in 1952 as the #277 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 20,851
- Named Denis, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,712 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 95.8% boys
- 873 girls · 19,978 boys
- Most popular in
- New Hampshire
- 6.44× its national share
Peak year is the year Denis made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Denis births per year, 1925–2025
1952 was the biggest year for Denis both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1934 and 1939, Denis became 1.9× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1952 and 1957, its share of baby boys fell by 43%, from 1 in 3,150 to 1 in 5,550.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Denis's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Denis.
Decade by decade
Babies named Denis in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 365 | – |
| 1930s | 7 | 1,648 | #431 |
| 1940s | 23 | 3,713 | #329 |
| 1950s | 59 | 4,953 | #334 |
| 1960s | 74 | 2,755 | #474 |
| 1970s | 72 | 1,398 | #754 |
| 1980s | 111 | 1,025 | #919 |
| 1990s | 154 | 1,062 | #1,110 |
| 2000s | 255 | 1,365 | #1,145 |
| 2010s | 63 | 1,094 | #1,505 |
| 2020–25 | 55 | 600 | #1,712 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
40.3% of babies named Denis from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Denis is most popular
The index compares Denis'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 Denis.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 6.44× | 323 |
| Massachusetts | 3.64× | 1,382 |
| New York | 2.95× | 3,570 |
| New Jersey | 1.69× | 743 |
| Wisconsin | 1.65× | 517 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Denis and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Denis (this page) | 19,978 | 1952 |
| Dennis | 610,212 | 1946 |
| Deniz | 1,212 | 2019 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Denis's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Denis.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Denis (1952).
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