Head to head · Boys' names
Denver vs Donovan
#518 vs #495 in 2025
Donovan is a whisker ahead (#495 vs #518 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Donovan 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, Donovan leads 4 measures of 6; Denver leads 2.
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: Denver #839, Donovan — — Denver higher
- 1890s: Denver #773, Donovan — — Denver higher
- 1900s: Denver #678, Donovan #929 — Denver higher
- 1910s: Denver #526, Donovan #941 — Denver higher
- 1920s: Denver #457, Donovan #791 — Denver higher
- 1930s: Denver #483, Donovan #648 — Denver higher
- 1940s: Denver #513, Donovan #767 — Denver higher
- 1950s: Denver #645, Donovan #782 — Denver higher
- 1960s: Denver #764, Donovan #633 — Donovan higher
- 1970s: Denver #807, Donovan #414 — Donovan higher
- 1980s: Denver #904, Donovan #414 — Donovan higher
- 1990s: Denver #900, Donovan #245 — Donovan higher
- 2000s: Denver #1091, Donovan #198 — Donovan higher
- 2010s: Denver #985, Donovan #290 — Donovan higher
- 2020s: Denver #505, Donovan #453 — Donovan higher
Denver stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Donovan has held the lead since the 1960s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Denver | Donovan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #839 | — |
| 1890s | #773 | — |
| 1900s | #678 | #929 |
| 1910s | #526 | #941 |
| 1920s | #457 | #791 |
| 1930s | #483 | #648 |
| 1940s | #513 | #767 |
| 1950s | #645 | #782 |
| 1960s | #764 | #633 |
| 1970s | #807 | #414 |
| 1980s | #904 | #414 |
| 1990s | #900 | #245 |
| 2000s | #1091 | #198 |
| 2010s | #985 | #290 |
| 2020s | #505 | #453 |
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
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.
Donovan
dark brown, from Irish donn 'brown' and dubh 'black', with a diminutive ending
The Irish personal name Donndubhán joins donn (brown) and dubh (black or dark) with the affectionate ending -án. Older glosses often render the whole as 'dark-haired chieftain', which stretches the elements a little; the color reading is the plain one.
Donndubhán → Ó Donnabháin → O'Donovan → Donovan
How it traveled
The name starts as Donndubhán, an Irish personal name, and became a surname when descendants took it as Ó Donnabháin — the family later known in English as O'Donovan, seated in Munster in the southwest of Ireland. Irish emigration carried the surname to England, America and Australia, where, like Ryan, Brady and Kelly before it, it slipped from the last name into the first-name column.
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
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.
Donovan
DON-uh-vun
Stress falls on the first syllable and the middle one blurs to a quick 'uh'. The Irish original, Donndubhán, sounds quite different — roughly DUN-doo-vawn — but the English pronunciation is fixed and gives no trouble.
- Don — The standard short form; also a given name in its own right, most often as a clipping of Donald.
- Donny — Informal and affectionate; also spelled Donnie, and used as a standalone name among older generations.
- Van — Takes the end of the name rather than the front; stands alone as a given name and surname in American use.
- D — An initial used as a casual address among friends and teammates.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
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
- a name with fewer syllablesDenver is 2 syllables to Donovan's 3
- a long American recordDenver was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Donovan if you want…
- a name most people already know#495 in 2025, 609 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsDonovan is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itDonovan runs 3 syllables, Denver 2
- a newer arrivalDonovan entered the US charts in 1900
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
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.
Donovan
Strengths
- One settled English pronunciation that spellers and strangers get right on the first try.
- Three ready-made short forms already in use: Don, Donny and Van.
- On the American record continuously for more than a century, so it reads neither invented nor antique.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Donavan, Donovon and Donnovan. Donovan is the majority form, but expect to spell it aloud now and then.
- Don and Donny were widespread as standalone names in the mid-twentieth century and still skew older, so the short forms may sound a generation apart from the full name.
- It is past its high point and easing downward, which means fewer classmates sharing it — pleasant if you want that, worth knowing if you were hoping for a name on the rise.
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 Denver and Donovan 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 Denver and Donovan?
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 Denver and Donovan each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Denver or Donovan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Denver or Donovan?
- Donovan, in 2025: Donovan ranked #495 with 609 babies; Denver ranked #518 with 578 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Denver or Donovan?
- Denver. Over the last five years Denver moved up 8 places; Donovan moved down 121 places.
- Which is the older name, Denver or Donovan?
- Denver was already in use when US records began in 1880; Donovan entered the US charts in 1900. On the American record, Denver is the older name.
- How many people are named Denver and Donovan?
- About 13,500 people named Denver are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 57,500 people named Donovan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Denvers or Donovans in the classroom?
- Denver will almost certainly be the only one in school. Donovan 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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