Given name & surname · also Greek
Dennis
“a follower of Dionysus”
Dennis is used as a given name and a surname. One French interpretation is “a follower of Dionysus.” Its derivation is not certain.
Original GreekΔιονύσιος
Meaning & origin
What it means
One French interpretation is “a follower of Dionysus.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Greek, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
In Cebuano usage, Dennis developed from Dionysius.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Dennis through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 623,692
- 621,000 boys · 2,692 girls
- Most popular year
- 1952
- 24,605 babies
- 2025
- 381
- #707 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −21%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 381 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 707 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 21.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 24,552 in 1952. In 2025, California and Texas shared the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (32 each). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 448,312 as a first name in 2020; 74,379 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dennis’s family of names
Dennis has an affectionate form in Denny. Dennis shares a linguistic root with Denis. In English usage, Dennis has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Dionisio.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Dennis has relatives in 25 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
30 related names in 25 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 23
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 36
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- ΔιονύσιοςGreek
- ΝτένιςGreek
- Tyson“son of” surname · English
- DenizTurkish
- Dyson“son of” surname · English
- DionisioSpanish, Italian
- Donnisequivalent
- Dennison“son of” surname · English
Show 28 moreShow fewer
- Denisscognate · Latvian
- Dionysiusroot · Latin
- Dionysiosformal form
- Дионисийequivalent
- Dzyanisequivalent
- Denezequivalent
- Діонісійequivalent
- Dinixhequivalent
- Дзянісequivalent
- Dionisiyequivalent
- Deeneesequivalent
- Dinísiasequivalent
- 丹尼斯Chinese
- ДеннисRussian
- ДенисRussian, Bulgarian
- Dionizycognate · Polish
- DionigiItalian
- Dionizijequivalent
- DinisiSicilian
- Dénescognate · Hungarian
- DionísCatalan
- DinísGalician
- TiinasiGreenlandic
- 데니스Korean
- DênisPortuguese
- DniWalloon
- ДеңизKyrgyz
- DinisPortuguese
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Dennis
- Dennis RitchieAmerican computer scientist, co-inventor of the Unix operating system and the C programming language (1941–2011)
- Dennis GaborNobel Prize-winning physicist and inventor of holography1900–1979
- Dennis HopperAmerican actor and film director (1936–2010)
- Dennis BergkampDutch association football player (born 1969)
- Dennis QuaidAmerican actorborn 1954
- Dennis RodmanAmerican basketball player (born 1961)
- Dennis TitoAmerican businessmanborn 1940
- Dennis RommedahlDanish footballerborn 1978
- Dennis AogoGerman association football playerborn 1987
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Dennis, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“crowned with garland”
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“a holy man; having great strength”
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