Denzil
Denzil was last recorded in 2020, when 6 babies were given it; 3,843 Americans have been recorded with it between 1897 and 2020 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,510 Americans named Denzil and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (39% of everyone recorded); the median is 61 years old and half are between 38 and 75.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Denzil by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Denzil?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #10,932, in 2020; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
96 babies in 1937, the peak
Denzil peaked in 1937, when 96 boys were given it, #589 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 6 | #10,932 | 3.5 |
| 2019 | 6 | #11,102 | 3.3 |
| 2017 | 7 | #9,939 | 3.8 |
| 2016 | 6 | #11,058 | 3.2 |
| 2015 | 10 | #7,624 | 5.2 |
| 2014 | 9 | #8,290 | 4.7 |
| 2011 | 6 | #11,171 | 3.2 |
| 2010 | 8 | #8,987 | 4.2 |
| 2009 | 8 | #9,188 | 4.0 |
| 2008 | 14 | #6,145 | 6.9 |
Every recorded year (114)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 7 | #10,021 | 3.4 |
| 2006 | 12 | #6,557 | 5.8 |
| 2005 | 10 | #7,241 | 5.0 |
| 2004 | 11 | #6,635 | 5.5 |
| 2003 | 16 | #4,866 | 8.1 |
| 2002 | 10 | #6,654 | 5.2 |
| 2001 | 10 | #6,566 | 5.1 |
| 2000 | 9 | #6,964 | 4.6 |
| 1999 | 5 | #10,292 | 2.6 |
| 1998 | 24 | #3,211 | 12.6 |
| 1997 | 15 | #4,291 | 8.0 |
| 1996 | 16 | #4,053 | 8.4 |
| 1995 | 22 | #3,120 | 11.6 |
| 1994 | 26 | #2,783 | 13.5 |
| 1993 | 19 | #3,395 | 9.7 |
| 1992 | 30 | #2,417 | 15.0 |
| 1991 | 23 | #2,844 | 11.4 |
| 1990 | 23 | #2,799 | 11.2 |
| 1989 | 13 | #4,078 | 6.5 |
| 1988 | 16 | #3,244 | 8.4 |
| 1987 | 14 | #3,376 | 7.5 |
| 1986 | 8 | #4,964 | 4.3 |
| 1985 | 10 | #4,123 | 5.4 |
| 1984 | 15 | #2,991 | 8.3 |
| 1983 | 9 | #4,218 | 5.0 |
| 1982 | 15 | #3,003 | 8.3 |
| 1981 | 11 | #3,659 | 6.1 |
| 1980 | 17 | #2,750 | 9.5 |
| 1979 | 18 | #2,607 | 10.5 |
| 1978 | 22 | #2,146 | 13.4 |
| 1977 | 18 | #2,481 | 11.0 |
| 1976 | 17 | #2,531 | 10.8 |
| 1975 | 20 | #2,224 | 12.8 |
| 1974 | 17 | #2,380 | 10.8 |
| 1973 | 23 | #1,889 | 14.8 |
| 1972 | 26 | #1,737 | 16.0 |
| 1971 | 19 | #2,145 | 10.7 |
| 1970 | 27 | #1,666 | 14.5 |
| 1969 | 18 | #2,000 | 10.1 |
| 1968 | 27 | #1,514 | 15.5 |
| 1967 | 18 | #1,865 | 10.3 |
| 1966 | 22 | #1,662 | 12.3 |
| 1965 | 26 | #1,528 | 14.0 |
| 1964 | 31 | #1,411 | 15.6 |
| 1963 | 30 | #1,433 | 14.8 |
| 1962 | 38 | #1,260 | 18.4 |
| 1961 | 33 | #1,390 | 15.5 |
| 1960 | 33 | #1,384 | 15.5 |
| 1959 | 43 | #1,182 | 20.1 |
| 1958 | 41 | #1,211 | 19.3 |
| 1957 | 48 | #1,102 | 22.3 |
| 1956 | 57 | #989 | 26.9 |
| 1955 | 33 | #1,315 | 16.0 |
| 1954 | 52 | #1,038 | 25.5 |
| 1953 | 44 | #1,107 | 22.3 |
| 1952 | 43 | #1,119 | 22.1 |
| 1951 | 52 | #975 | 27.6 |
| 1950 | 40 | #1,125 | 22.3 |
| 1949 | 72 | #810 | 40.6 |
| 1948 | 40 | #1,130 | 22.8 |
| 1947 | 60 | #899 | 32.8 |
| 1946 | 62 | #838 | 38.2 |
| 1945 | 58 | #821 | 43.1 |
| 1944 | 43 | #995 | 31.6 |
| 1943 | 62 | #837 | 43.4 |
| 1942 | 60 | #842 | 43.4 |
| 1941 | 45 | #953 | 36.6 |
| 1940 | 41 | #1,010 | 35.4 |
| 1939 | 51 | #860 | 46.1 |
| 1938 | 78 | #684 | 70.3 |
| 1937 | 96 | #589 | 90.0 |
| 1936 | 64 | #757 | 61.7 |
| 1935 | 55 | #844 | 52.8 |
| 1934 | 64 | #773 | 62.0 |
| 1933 | 69 | #734 | 69.6 |
| 1932 | 71 | #739 | 68.0 |
| 1931 | 74 | #705 | 71.2 |
| 1930 | 46 | #1,009 | 41.9 |
| 1929 | 66 | #796 | 61.4 |
| 1928 | 74 | #743 | 66.8 |
| 1927 | 68 | #805 | 60.3 |
| 1926 | 61 | #844 | 54.9 |
| 1925 | 61 | #852 | 54.7 |
| 1924 | 71 | #802 | 62.7 |
| 1923 | 88 | #688 | 80.3 |
| 1922 | 68 | #821 | 62.5 |
| 1921 | 67 | #844 | 60.8 |
| 1920 | 74 | #768 | 69.5 |
| 1919 | 67 | #791 | 68.4 |
| 1918 | 65 | #809 | 64.1 |
| 1917 | 67 | #766 | 72.4 |
| 1916 | 53 | #864 | 59.5 |
| 1915 | 47 | #908 | 55.4 |
| 1914 | 40 | #857 | 61.1 |
| 1913 | 18 | #1,221 | 35.1 |
| 1912 | 14 | #1,289 | 32.6 |
| 1911 | 13 | #938 | 57.5 |
| 1909 | 9 | #1,038 | 54.9 |
| 1908 | 10 | #897 | 64.8 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,228 | 40.9 |
| 1906 | 8 | #947 | 60.1 |
| 1900 | 7 | #1,072 | 46.5 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,165 | 40.8 |
| 1897 | 5 | #1,103 | 44.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Denzil a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 3,843 Americans recorded as Denzil, 2% are girls and 98% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Denzil: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Denzil, and how old are they?
1,510 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 39% of the 3,843 Americans ever recorded as Denzil. The median Denzil alive today is 61 years old; half are between 38 and 75.
The 2020 Census counted 2,096 people named Denzil (40 women and girls, 2,056 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,791 born in the U.S. The Census count is 17% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 203 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 547 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 295 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 257 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 162 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 44 |
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 Denzil born?
The states with the most babies named Denzil are West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, with 80% of its births recorded by state since 1910; West Virginia and Kentucky and Missouri are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 782 | not ranked | 14.2× |
| Kentucky | 361 | not ranked | 4.2× |
| Missouri | 184 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Indiana | 81 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 80 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Oklahoma | 44 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Arkansas | 30 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Illinois | 29 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Texas | 27 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| New York | 26 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Denzil is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Denzil is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 14.2 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 Denzil with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 17,007 babies since 1880, Denzil is the second most given (23% of them). In 2025 none of their 189 babies recorded by SSA was a Denzil (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Denzil
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 Denzil and names like it
- Compare Denzil and DenzelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sDenzil peaked in 1937.
- West Virginia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Denzil since 1910.
- The top names of 1937The year the most babies were named Denzil.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Denzil alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.