Denzil
A masculine given name of possibly French or Cornish origin, meaning unknown.
Name Census estimates that about 1,709 living Americans carry the first name Denzil. It is a predominantly male name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Denzil today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Denzil births was 1937 (96 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Denzil. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Denzil with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Denzil is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 68 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 200,558 Americans
Peak year
1937
96 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2020 SSA rank
#4,713
Tracked since 1897
Census
Denzil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,091 people with the first name Denzil, which placed it at #7,332 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,332
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,091 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Denzil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denzil is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Denzil described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Denzil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.6% · 1,309
- Black or African American27.3% · 570
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 77
- Two or more races3.5% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Denzil
Denzil leans heavily male at 98.2% of total registrations, but 68 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Denzil as a male name
- Ranked #10,933 in 2020
- 6 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1937 (96 births)
Denzil as a female name
- Ranked #4,713 in 1930
- 5 female births in 1930
- Peak: 1915 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Denzil leans strongly male. 2,056 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 40 female bearers (1.9%).
Popularity
Denzil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Denzil from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 733 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Denzil 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 Denzil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Denzils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri recorded the most babies named Denzil, while California, Tennessee, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 128 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Denzil
The given name Denzil has its origins in the Celtic language. It is believed to have derived from the Old Welsh name Dingad, which means "valiant" or "brave." The name was most prevalent in Cornwall, a region in southwestern England with strong Celtic roots.
Denzil gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly among the gentry and nobility of Cornwall. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 12th century, when Denzil de Wolveton, a knight from Cornwall, was mentioned in historical records.
In the 13th century, the name Denzil appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name had become well-established in the region by that time.
Throughout the medieval period, the name Denzil was associated with chivalry and bravery, reflecting its Celtic origins. Several notable individuals bore this name, including Denzil Holles (1599-1680), an English nobleman and political figure who played a significant role in the English Civil War.
Another famous bearer of the name was Sir Denzil Onslow (1690-1776), a British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. He was widely respected for his impartiality and fairness in presiding over parliamentary debates.
In the literary realm, Denzil Holles Carnaby (1804-1877) was an English author and poet who wrote several works, including "The Poetical Works of Denzil Holles Carnaby."
During the 19th century, the name Denzil was particularly popular among the upper classes in England, with several prominent figures bearing the name. One notable example was Denzil Charles Jelf Ibbetson (1819-1891), a British army officer and explorer who served in India and Afghanistan.
Another famous individual with the name was Denzil Onslow Yorke (1866-1944), a British army officer and author who served in the Boer War and World War I. He wrote several books, including "The History of the British Navy" and "The Household Cavalry in Peace and War."
While the name Denzil has its roots in the Celtic language and was most prevalent in Cornwall, it has since spread to other parts of the English-speaking world, though it remains relatively uncommon.
People
Denzil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Denzil 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
Denzil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Denzil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,709 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Denzil 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 200,558 US residents.
Is Denzil a common name?
We classify Denzil as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,843 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Denzil most popular?
The single biggest year for Denzil was 1937, when 96 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Denzil is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Denzil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,091 people with the name Denzil, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,332 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Denzil in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Denzil?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Denzil leans strongly male. 2,056 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 40 female bearers (1.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Denzil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Denzil is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Denzil most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Denzil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.6% (1,309 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Denzil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Denzil a male name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Denzil in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Denzil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Denzil in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Denzil can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Denzil as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.