How rare is the name Denny?

12,121 people in the United States have the first name Denny, about 1 in 24,918. It ranks #2,181 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

DENNY

#2,181

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
12,121
About
1 in 24,918
This common or more
78.8%
Who bears it

Of the 12,121 people named Denny, 63.6% reported their origin as White, 17% as Hispanic or Latino and 12.4% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 92.7% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Denny peaked in 1947, when 445 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18892025
Peak year
1947
Births that year
445
In 2025*
24 ▼95%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 15,819 babies have been given the name since 1889. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Denny by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #779. The largest share of babies named Denny, 35.5%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#3,1215
1890s#3,34211
1900s#3,33226
1910s#3,129157
1920s#2,033472
1930s#1,0701,286
1940s#7793,070
1950s#9702,796
1960s#1,1092,503
1970s#1,3022,021
1980s#1,9121,256
1990s#2,848910
2000s#4,264707
2010s#6,179439
2020s#8,544160
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–273.2%
Silent Generation 1928–4519.3%
Baby boom 1946–6435.5%
Generation X 1965–8020.8%
Millennials 1981–9611.3%
Generation Z 1997–127.1%
2013 and later2.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Denny is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Denny has been most common in Iowa (3.1×), West Virginia (3.1×), and Kentucky (2.7×), and least common in Maryland (0.19×).

10,634 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Denny

1 other first name also has 12,121 people.

#2,181 Dona · 12,121

Either side of Denny

#2,179 Remi · 12,143#2,180 Octavia · 12,132#2,181 Dona · 12,121#2,183 Kolton · 12,116

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Denny, most common first.

#7,036 Denna · 2,212#18,739 Denni · 572#19,234 Deny · 553#19,790 Denay · 530#31,246 Denney · 275

Also a last name

As a last name, Denny ranks #2,168 of 156,621, with 16,304 people. See Denny as a last name

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