Head to head · Boys' names
Damon vs Denver
#501 vs #518 in 2025 · Greek vs Old English roots
Damon is a whisker ahead (#501 vs #518 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Damon is stepping back from its peak, Denver is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Denver has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Damon leads 4 measures of 6; Denver leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Damon #892, Denver #839 — Denver higher
- 1890s: Damon #853, Denver #773 — Denver higher
- 1900s: Damon #802, Denver #678 — Denver higher
- 1910s: Damon #1044, Denver #526 — Denver higher
- 1920s: Damon #877, Denver #457 — Denver higher
- 1930s: Damon #786, Denver #483 — Denver higher
- 1940s: Damon #686, Denver #513 — Denver higher
- 1950s: Damon #532, Denver #645 — Damon higher
- 1960s: Damon #285, Denver #764 — Damon higher
- 1970s: Damon #135, Denver #807 — Damon higher
- 1980s: Damon #324, Denver #904 — Damon higher
- 1990s: Damon #287, Denver #900 — Damon higher
- 2000s: Damon #360, Denver #1091 — Damon higher
- 2010s: Damon #421, Denver #985 — Damon higher
- 2020s: Damon #443, Denver #505 — Damon higher
Damon stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Damon has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Damon | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #892 | #839 |
| 1890s | #853 | #773 |
| 1900s | #802 | #678 |
| 1910s | #1044 | #526 |
| 1920s | #877 | #457 |
| 1930s | #786 | #483 |
| 1940s | #686 | #513 |
| 1950s | #532 | #645 |
| 1960s | #285 | #764 |
| 1970s | #135 | #807 |
| 1980s | #324 | #904 |
| 1990s | #287 | #900 |
| 2000s | #360 | #1091 |
| 2010s | #421 | #985 |
| 2020s | #443 | #505 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Damon
to tame, to subdue
From the Greek verb damazō, 'to tame'. The same root stands behind the name Damian.
Δάμων (Greek) → Damon (Latin) → Damon (English)
How it traveled
The name begins as Greek Δάμων, formed on damazō, 'to tame'. It belonged to real men in the classical Greek world and then to literature: Virgil, writing in the first century BC, names one of the duelling shepherd-singers of his eighth Eclogue Damon, and the Renaissance and Restoration poets who imitated him kept the name in circulation as a pastoral standby.
Denver
crossing or passage of the Danes
From Old English Dena (of the Danes) plus a word for a crossing or ford, describing the Norfolk village of Denver. The American city carries the surname of James W. Denver, governor of Kansas Territory, rather than the meaning directly.
Dena fær (Old English) → Denver (village in Norfolk) → Denver (English surname) → Denver (given name)
How it traveled
The oldest Denver is a place: a village in the Norfolk fens of eastern England, named for a crossing used by Danish settlers. English place names of that kind hardened into family names, and the surname Denver crossed the Atlantic with its bearers.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Damon
DAY-mun
Standard in American English, stress on the first syllable. A classical DAM-un (rhyming with 'salmon') is heard when the ancient Greek figure is meant, but the name as given to children is DAY-mun.
- Day — Informal, family-level shortening; rarely written down.
- Dame — Informal, mostly used among friends and on sports teams.
- D — Initial used as an address form, common in American informal speech.
Denver
DEN-ver
Stress on the first syllable. The city means almost no American will hesitate over it, and English speakers elsewhere manage it without instruction.
- Den — The most direct short form, used informally at home and among friends.
- Denny — Informal; also stands alone as a given name and is more often heard as a short form of Dennis.
- Dev — Occasional playground shortening; also an independent name in its own right.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Damon if you want…
- a name most people already know#501 in 2025, 604 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsDamon is stepping back from its peak
Choose Denver if you want…
- a name fewer children share#518 in 2025 — denver will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 8 places on the charts in five years
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Damon
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, with no accents and no competing common variants to correct.
- An unbroken written record from classical Greek through Latin and into English poetry.
- Identical spelling works in French, German and Dutch; Damián and Damiano are close relatives elsewhere.
To consider
- It sits one letter away from 'daemon' and close in sound to 'demon' — most people never make the connection, but some children will hear the joke at least once.
- Damon and Damian are constantly swapped by people who half-remember which one they were told. Expect to repeat it.
- Strongly represented among Americans now in their forties, so it may read as belonging to a particular generation rather than as antique or brand new — a trade-off that also means it is well known and easy to say.
Denver
Strengths
- One spelling, one pronunciation, and a city on every US map to anchor both — it will rarely need to be spelled out or repeated.
- A documented line running from a Norfolk village to an English surname to an American given name, rather than a recent invention.
- Given quietly and consistently across many generations, so it reads as neither dated nor newly minted.
To consider
- The city dominates the association. Expect a lifetime of people asking whether the family has Colorado ties, and the occasional question about the singer who took the city's name as his own.
- It leans toward boys without settling there. A girl named Denver will meet forms and teachers who assume otherwise — easily corrected, but it will recur.
- Denny, the friendliest short form, is more commonly attached to Dennis, so it may invite that name as a guess.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Damon and Denver in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Damon and Denver?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Borrowed from the girls: names boys are taking back
- Place names on the map and the birth certificate
- all guides
Where Damon and Denver each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Damon or Denver — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Damon or Denver?
- Damon, in 2025: Damon ranked #501 with 604 babies; Denver ranked #518 with 578 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Damon or Denver?
- Denver. Over the last five years Damon moved down 71 places; Denver moved up 8 places.
- Which is the older name, Damon or Denver?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Damon and Denver?
- About 62,500 people named Damon are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,500 people named Denver are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Damons or Denvers in the classroom?
- Damon will almost certainly be the only one in school. Denver will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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