Denys
Derived from the Greek name Dionysios, meaning "follower of Dionysus".
Name Census estimates that about 579 living Americans carry the first name Denys. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Denys today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Denys births was 1988 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Denys. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Denys was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
579
~ 1 in 591,976 Americans
Peak year
1988
30 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,454
Tracked since 1944
Gender
Gender distribution for Denys
Denys is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 632 total registrations, 206 (32.6%) were male and 426 (67.4%) were female.
Denys as a male name
- Ranked #8,454 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (13 births)
Denys as a female name
- Ranked #15,474 in 2010
- 6 female births in 2010
- Peak: 1988 (19 births)
Popularity
Denys: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Denys from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 128 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Denys by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Denys during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Denys' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Denys
The name Denys has its origins in the Greek name Dionysios, which was derived from the name of the Greek god Dionysus. Dionysus was the god of fertility, wine, and vegetation in ancient Greek mythology. The name Dionysios was a compound word formed by the combination of the Greek words "dios" meaning divine and "nysios" meaning revelry.
The Roman equivalent of the Greek name Dionysios was Dionysius, which later evolved into the French form Denis and the English form Dennis. The name gained widespread popularity in Europe after the martyrdom of St. Denis, the patron saint of France, in the 3rd century AD.
According to tradition, St. Denis was a missionary sent to Gaul (modern-day France) by Pope Fabian in the 3rd century to preach Christianity. He became the first bishop of Paris and was eventually martyred, along with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, by decapitation on the hill of Montmartre around 250 AD.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Denys can be found in the 6th century with the Byzantine poet and historian Dionysius of Byzantium, who lived during the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD).
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Denys. One of the most famous was Denis the Carthusian (1402-1471), a Flemish Catholic theologian and mystic who wrote extensively on spiritual and mystical topics.
Another notable figure was Denys Finch-Hatton (1887-1931), an English aristocrat, big-game hunter, and aviator who gained fame for his adventures in Africa and his relationship with Danish writer Karen Blixen, portrayed in the film "Out of Africa."
In the realm of art, Denys Calvaert (1540-1619) was a Flemish painter and etcher who worked in Italy and is known for his contributions to the development of the Bolognese school of painting.
Denys Watkins-Pitchford (1905-1990), better known by his pen name BB, was a British writer and illustrator of children's books, most famously "The Little Grey Men" series.
Denys Roberts (1619-1691) was an English Puritan clergyman and writer who served as a chaplain during the English Civil War and later became the Vicar of Wigan.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Denys
People
Denys + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Denys as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Denys: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Denys?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 579 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Denys going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 591,976 US residents.
Is Denys a common name?
We classify Denys as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 632 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Denys most popular?
The single biggest year for Denys was 1988, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Denys is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Denys a female name?
Yes, 67.4% of people registered as Denys in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.