ninan.org

Dennis

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~424,300 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#707 among boys
Births in 2025
381 623,692 since 1880
Typical age
67 years, median

Dennis popularity over time

Dennis rank by birth year, 1880–2025Dennis ranked #105 in 1880 and #707 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #16, in 1949.#100#707best #16 in 194918901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Dennis in 1952 than in any other year — 24,605 of them. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Dennis has spent 51 years inside the national top 100.

As of 2025 the name sits at #707, with 381 births that year. Compared with 2015, births are down 36%.

Babies named Dennis per yearPeaks at 24,605 births in 1952.24,605 in 1952018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Dennis?

About 424,300 people named Dennis are alive in the United States today. That is out of 623,692 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Dennis?

The typical living Dennis is 67 years old. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Dennis a mid-century perennial name.

Your Dennis

Ages of living people named DennisHalf of living Denniss are older than 67 and half younger.median 67020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Dennis is most common

Dennis is 1.9× as common in Maryland as it is nationally. New Jersey, Massachusetts and Louisiana follow.

Where Dennis is used more than average5 states use the name Dennis more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: 1.5× the national ratePANew Jersey: 1.6× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 1.9× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 1.5× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: 1.5× the national rateLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Dennis is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Maryland 119 1.9×
New Jersey 164 1.6×
Massachusetts 107 1.5×
Louisiana 82 1.5×
Pennsylvania 207 1.5×

Dennis in England and Wales

ONS recorded 81 births named Dennis in 2025, ranking it #478. That is 22% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Dennis comes from

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”.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Dennis

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Dennis Ritchie American computer scientist, co-inventor of the Unix operating system and the C programming language 1941–2011 93
Dennis Gabor Nobel Prize-winning physicist and inventor of holography 1900–1979 88
Dennis Hopper American actor and film director 1936–2010 81
Dennis Bergkamp Dutch association football player 1969 77
Dennis Quaid American actor 1954 63
Dennis Rodman American basketball player 1961 62
Dennis Tito American businessman 1940 51
Dennis Rommedahl Danish footballer 1978 43
Photo credits (8)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/dennis.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).