Denay
Feminine
Denay is also an old English word. In Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino sends a jewel to Olivia with the message that his love 'can give no place, bide no denay', meaning it will take no refusal. The name has no recorded source, and the Shakespeare word is a coincidence of letters, but a pleasing one.
How old is the name Denay?
Denay first appears in US birth records in 1963 — 62 years ago. The typical Denay alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 500 people named Denay are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Denay most popular?
Denay peaked in 1978, reaching #3637 nationally. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Denay
Our Denay has a line of Shakespeare hidden in it. In the second act of Twelfth Night, the lovesick Orsino sends Viola to Olivia with a jewel and a message: his love can give no place, bide no denay. The word meant denial, and it has long since dropped out of English, which left its spelling free for a name. Denay the name has no recorded link to it and sits beside Denae and Renee, but the old word is inside it all the same, and it is a word about a love that will not take no for an answer.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No meaning is recorded for Denay as a name. As a word, denay is an old form of denial, and Shakespeare used it; nothing records a family taking the name from it. The name sits beside Denae and Renee, spelled with an English ay.
Pronouncing Denay
duh-NAY
Stress on the second syllable, rhyming with away.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1963
- Most girls named
- 199123 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3637reached in 1978
- Change vs 2010
- +14.3%8 in 2011, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Denays among us
people named Denay are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Denay sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Two syllables, spelled as they sound, with the stress on the ay.
- Carries a genuine Shakespeare word in its letters.
- Rare in its own right.
- Expect Denae, Deney and Dene on forms.
- Readers may take it for a shortened Denise or a respelled Renee; the family's own account is the one that counts.
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Denay
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Denays are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Denay are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Denay in 2025?
- Denay is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Denay with classmates?
- Denay will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Denay? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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