Dennis is the English form of the French Denis, which comes from the Greek Dionysios and means "devoted to Dionysus", the god of wine; Saint Denis is the patron saint of France. The comic-strip menace Dennis and basketball star Dennis Rodman kept it visible, and it was a top 20 name in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Dennis ranked number 251 in 2000 and has slipped steadily since, ranking number 707 in 2025.