Dennis

“Follower of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine” — Ancient Greek via Latin and Old French origin

Boy's name · #707 in the US (2025) · Vintage

Dennis has appeared in US records since 1880 — best rank #16 (1949) · 621,000 babies named Dennis all-time · 1 in 4,500 boys born in 2025.

Around the world: about 1 in 690 boys in Norway (2025) · about 1 in 3,400 boys in England & Wales (2025) · about 1 in 5,300 boys in Canada (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 34 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Dennises

Dennis M. Ritchie — American computer scientist, co-inventor of the Unix operating system and the C programming language
Dennis Gabor — Nobel Prize-winning physicist and inventor of holography
Dennis Hopper — American actor and film director (1936–2010)
Dennis Bergkamp — Dutch association football player (born 1969)
Dennis Quaid — American actor

Dennis Creevey — Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire · Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Dennis Tanner — Coronation Street
Dennis Whitaker — The Pitt

Among 3,778 notable people named Dennis:

Athletes appear 1.63× more often than among typical names — e.g. Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch association football player (born 1969).

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.