Dennis

What Dennis means

Means “follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”

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”.

Source: Wiktionary, “Dennis” (revision 93670798), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Dennis?

US: Falling: down from #494 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #368 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1946, when 21,447 boys got the name (#17 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 4,483 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,357 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NE (0.68 per 1,000 boys), MD (0.61 per 1,000 boys), MS (0.55 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Dennis is #707 in the US and #478 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Dennis were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Denis95 US · 80 E&W
• Deniz50 US · 35 E&W
• Danis11 US
• Denys9 US
• Donis5 US
• Dinis0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Denis
• Denys

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Dennis

Boys

• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Gregory#593“watchful, vigilant”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Phillip#651Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 6,047 babies; 425 in 2025
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*

For a sister

• Melissa#419“bee, honey, or honeybee”^*
• Christina#770Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 16,600 babies; 352 in 2025
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Nicole#382Form of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”^*
• Cassandra#630Editor’s note Down from #512 in 2015 to #630 in 2025 in the US
• Veronica#427Form of Berenice, meaning “bringer of victory”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Dennis’s. Rank is US 2025.