# Denis (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/denis/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɛnɪs/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Denys |
| US babies named this | 21,606 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 20,733 / 873 (4% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,574, 1996 to 2025 |

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 27 | 5,278 |
| 2008 | 34 | 4,477 |
| 2009 | 25 | 5,588 |
| 2010 | 18 | 6,991 |
| 2011 | 13 | 8,758 |
| 2012 | 7 | 13,868 |
| 2013 | 9 | 11,255 |
| 2014 | 6 | 15,073 |
| 2016 | 5 | 16,924 |
| 2018 | 5 | 16,310 |
| 2020 | 24 | 5,200 |
| 2021 | 10 | 9,752 |
| 2022 | 7 | 12,578 |
| 2024 | 8 | 11,367 |
| 2025 | 6 | 13,640 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 117 | 1,415 |
| 2012 | 124 | 1,360 |
| 2013 | 120 | 1,401 |
| 2014 | 102 | 1,560 |
| 2015 | 110 | 1,505 |
| 2016 | 88 | 1,756 |
| 2017 | 95 | 1,664 |
| 2018 | 90 | 1,726 |
| 2019 | 123 | 1,421 |
| 2020 | 95 | 1,675 |
| 2021 | 92 | 1,755 |
| 2022 | 102 | 1,681 |
| 2023 | 113 | 1,551 |
| 2024 | 103 | 1,643 |
| 2025 | 95 | 1,712 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 86 | 441 |
| 2012 | 86 | 460 |
| 2013 | 113 | 359 |
| 2014 | 107 | 381 |
| 2015 | 131 | 351 |
| 2016 | 142 | 333 |
| 2017 | 193 | 270 |
| 2018 | 191 | 266 |
| 2019 | 176 | 274 |
| 2020 | 178 | 262 |
| 2021 | 135 | 337 |
| 2022 | 131 | 331 |
| 2023 | 100 | 396 |
| 2024 | 93 | 434 |
| 2025 | 80 | 484 |

## People named Denis

- Denis Diderot, French Enlightenment philosopher writer and encyclopædist (1713–1784)
- Denis Mukwege, Congolese gynecologist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician, mechanician and physicist (1781–1840)
- Denis Villeneuve, Canadian film director and screenwriter (born 1967)
- Denis Papin, French physicist, mathematician and inventor (1647–1713)
- Denis, 3rd-century Bishop of Paris and saint
- Denis Leary, American actor and comedian (born 1957)
- Denis O'Hare, American actor
- Denis Thatcher, English businessman, husband of Margaret Thatcher (1915–2003)
- Denis McDonough, 11th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Denis Zvizdić, Bosnia and Herzegovina politician (born 1964)
- Denis Healey, British politician (1917–2015)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.