Denver
Denver is given to both girls and boys: 326 girls and 578 boys were given it in 2025 (#836 among girls’ names and #518 among boys’, #711 among all names counting both); 23,413 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 17,300 Americans named Denver and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (74% of everyone recorded); the median is 13 years old and half are between 5 and 38.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Denver by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Denver mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Denver is “a male given name transferred from the place name or surname.”
Named after James W. Denver. The surname Denver ultimately derives from Old English Dene-fær (“crossing or passing of the Danes”), from Dene + fær; or alternatively from den-ōfer (“valley-bank”), from denu + ofer.
/ˈdɛnvɚ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Denver?
#518 among boys’ names, 2025
Denver rose from #899 in 2015 to #518 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.13 to 0.34 per 1,000.
995 babies in 2024, the peak
Denver peaked in 2024, when 995 babies were given it (633 boys, #488 among boys’ names). The 904 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 91% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 326 | #836 | 578 | #518 |
| 2024 | 362 | #780 | 633 | #488 |
| 2023 | 360 | #782 | 590 | #510 |
| 2022 | 323 | #862 | 645 | #480 |
| 2021 | 365 | #778 | 579 | #508 |
| 2020 | 295 | #896 | 542 | #526 |
| 2019 | 300 | #891 | 423 | #636 |
| 2018 | 249 | #1,037 | 370 | #675 |
| 2017 | 218 | #1,138 | 274 | #821 |
| 2016 | 181 | #1,321 | 269 | #839 |
Every recorded year (135)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 197 | #1,241 | 242 | #899 |
| 2014 | 124 | #1,697 | 188 | #1,054 |
| 2013 | 82 | #2,265 | 162 | #1,119 |
| 2012 | 66 | #2,690 | 141 | #1,251 |
| 2011 | 59 | #2,918 | 142 | #1,230 |
| 2010 | 45 | #3,530 | 128 | #1,332 |
| 2009 | 47 | #3,471 | 132 | #1,317 |
| 2008 | 49 | #3,387 | 169 | #1,095 |
| 2007 | 44 | #3,666 | 147 | #1,197 |
| 2006 | 40 | #3,809 | 146 | #1,155 |
| 2005 | 28 | #4,739 | 151 | #1,094 |
| 2004 | 30 | #4,523 | 134 | #1,162 |
| 2003 | 32 | #4,124 | 157 | #1,008 |
| 2002 | 33 | #3,905 | 146 | #1,048 |
| 2001 | 34 | #3,800 | 164 | #944 |
| 2000 | 29 | #4,213 | 175 | #892 |
| 1999 | 41 | #3,152 | 210 | #759 |
| 1998 | 25 | #4,396 | 196 | #783 |
| 1997 | 14 | #6,573 | 161 | #867 |
| 1996 | 19 | #5,113 | 146 | #901 |
| 1995 | 14 | #6,347 | 157 | #863 |
| 1994 | 16 | #5,783 | 158 | #852 |
| 1993 | 12 | #7,134 | 120 | #989 |
| 1992 | 13 | #6,742 | 119 | #989 |
| 1991 | 5 | #13,715 | 118 | #982 |
| 1990 | 6 | #11,767 | 111 | #998 |
| 1989 | 9 | #8,210 | 94 | #1,080 |
| 1988 | 9 | #7,862 | 97 | #983 |
| 1987 | 5 | #11,766 | 109 | #899 |
| 1986 | 8 | #7,932 | 106 | #882 |
| 1985 | under 5 | 93 | #949 | |
| 1984 | 8 | #7,565 | 95 | #903 |
| 1983 | 5 | #10,678 | 106 | #849 |
| 1982 | 6 | #9,521 | 118 | #815 |
| 1981 | under 5 | 115 | #818 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 103 | #881 | |
| 1979 | 9 | #6,838 | 120 | #790 |
| 1978 | under 5 | 113 | #799 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 109 | #816 | |
| 1976 | 6 | #8,404 | 111 | #787 |
| 1975 | 9 | #6,085 | 123 | #751 |
| 1974 | under 5 | 101 | #796 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 90 | #839 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 94 | #829 | |
| 1971 | 5 | #8,643 | 102 | #797 |
| 1970 | under 5 | 86 | #870 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 96 | #791 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 92 | #773 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 98 | #745 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 88 | #775 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 78 | #831 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 124 | #694 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 97 | #773 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 103 | #750 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 102 | #761 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 106 | #748 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 116 | #713 | |
| 1958 | under 5 | 120 | #687 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 103 | #737 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 129 | #671 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 135 | #641 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 118 | #664 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 134 | #620 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 140 | #590 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 169 | #524 | |
| 1950 | 6 | #4,865 | 131 | #595 |
| 1949 | under 5 | 154 | #535 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 160 | #523 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 177 | #504 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 168 | #497 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 152 | #490 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 126 | #543 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 144 | #521 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 154 | #496 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 121 | #538 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 142 | #484 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 135 | #496 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 136 | #500 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 167 | #437 | |
| 1936 | 6 | #3,799 | 137 | #482 |
| 1935 | under 5 | 172 | #427 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 128 | #514 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 140 | #475 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 153 | #466 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 120 | #530 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 136 | #511 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 157 | #467 | |
| 1928 | 6 | #4,301 | 161 | #480 |
| 1927 | 5 | #4,979 | 194 | #435 |
| 1926 | under 5 | 161 | #473 | |
| 1925 | 5 | #5,145 | 203 | #422 |
| 1924 | 5 | #5,254 | 165 | #481 |
| 1923 | under 5 | 178 | #458 | |
| 1922 | 6 | #4,579 | 174 | #468 |
| 1921 | 6 | #4,603 | 193 | #443 |
| 1920 | 5 | #5,163 | 189 | #442 |
| 1919 | under 5 | 193 | #422 | |
| 1918 | 5 | #5,003 | 120 | #548 |
| 1917 | under 5 | 150 | #465 | |
| 1916 | 5 | #4,589 | 117 | #528 |
| 1915 | 6 | #3,888 | 148 | #450 |
| 1914 | under 5 | 87 | #529 | |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,604 | 74 | #504 |
| 1912 | under 5 | 56 | #532 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 21 | #696 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 23 | #604 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 18 | #639 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 17 | #637 | |
| 1907 | under 5 | 19 | #566 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 7 | #1,035 | |
| 1905 | under 5 | 14 | #640 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 14 | #620 | |
| 1903 | under 5 | 9 | #806 | |
| 1902 | under 5 | 14 | #592 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 11 | #647 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 13 | #704 | |
| 1899 | under 5 | 10 | #671 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 8 | #823 | |
| 1897 | under 5 | 6 | #968 | |
| 1895 | under 5 | 12 | #615 | |
| 1894 | under 5 | 6 | #981 | |
| 1890 | under 5 | 9 | #681 | |
| 1889 | under 5 | 7 | #817 | |
| 1887 | under 5 | 6 | #844 | |
| 1880 | under 5 | 5 | #943 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Denver a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 23,413 Americans recorded as Denver, 18% are girls and 82% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Denver: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Denver, and how old are they?
17,300 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 74% of the 23,413 Americans ever recorded as Denver. The median Denver alive today is 13 years old; half are between 5 and 38.
The 2020 Census counted 11,468 people named Denver (1,839 women and girls, 9,629 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 12,758 born in the U.S. The Census count is 10% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 495 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,610 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,450 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,900 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,070 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 8,820 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Denver born?
The states with the most babies named Denver are Texas, Georgia and Ohio, with 24% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 89 | #561 | 0.7× |
| Georgia | 58 | #345 | 1.3× |
| Ohio | 46 | #341 | 1.9× |
| Florida | 43 | #588 | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 36 | #547 | 0.7× |
| Louisiana | 36 | #298 | 1.1× |
| California | 35 | #1,127 | 0.3× |
| Missouri | 34 | #303 | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 34 | #518 | 0.7× |
| Tennessee | 32 | #372 | 1.4× |
Where Denver is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Denver is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 6.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Denver with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Denver
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Denver and names like it
- Compare Denver and ClarkeBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sDenver peaked in 2024.
- Ohio’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Denver since 1910.
- From place namesWiktionary’s origin for Denver: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2024The year the most babies were named Denver.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Denver alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with DMost given first.