Humanverse

Denis vs Denorris

American parents have registered 21,606 Denises since 1880, against 201 Denorrises. Denis is still ahead, with 101 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Denis against Denorris, 1880 to 2025 0 200 400 600 800 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Denis Denorris

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Denis has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1988, when Denis had 93 and Denorris had 11.

Side by side

  Denis Denorris
Total US births 21,606201
Most in one year 62513
Babies in 2025 101under 5
Estimated living today 15,000180
Median age today 5741
Peak year 19521987
Best rank 277th boys3,521st boys
Rank in 2025 1,708thunranked
First recorded 18801955
Girls / boys 873 / 20,7330 / 201

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Denises alive today are over 57; half the Denorrises are over 41. That is 16 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Denis and Denorris.