Dennis is a moderately popular boys' name in United States, ranking #209 in 1997 with 1,489 recorded births. The name reached its all-time peak in 1996 with 1,539 births ranking #203. In 1997, approximately 1 in every 1,266 boys born was named Dennis. FALLING Recent data shows the name is currently falling.
Dennis is the familiar English form of a Greek-rooted name meaning "devoted to Dionysus". In modern use, the classical mythological root matters much less than the name's long, stable history.
The name spread through Christian tradition, especially through Saint Denis and later forms across Europe. In English it became a dependable twentieth-century classic.