Baby Name of the Day: Denzel

The baby name Denzel brings to mind a distinguished leading man.

Our Baby Name of the Day is inspired by the actor.

WHAT DOES THE NAME DENZEL MEAN?

Let’s begin in Cornwall. 

Most sources agree that the name Denzel has Cornish origins, and indeed there’s a place name to back that up.

Denzell was the name of a manor house in St. Mawgan. While the exact house is elusive today, the name appears in historical records. 

The name filtered into use with a few re-spellings:

• John Denzel or Denzell owned land in Cornwall.
• One of his daughters married Sir William Holles. They named their son Denzil Holles.
• Denzil married Eleanor; their son, John Holles, became the 1st Earl of Clare.
• John married Anne. Their older son inherited his father’s title, but younger son Denzil became the 1st Baron Holles.

Denzil Holles was one of the Five Members of Parliament that King Charles I attempted to arrest in 1642. The result? The First English Civil War. 

In brief, then, Denzil or Denzel or Denzell was an English surname associated with the aristocracy, just like Howard and Clarence and Stanley.

We borrowed plenty of those surnames from England over the years, though many of them have fallen out of favor.

As for the meaning of Denzel? It’s elusive, but the best theory is that Denzel means “high stronghold” or fort. Din means fort in Cornish even today, so it’s plausible. 

DENZEL AS A LAST NAME

While Denzil would remain a rather obscure given name, it does seem to have filtered into use as a last name.

Possibly some Denzels took their surname from the Cornish place name.

Others might’ve been German. Denz, like Benz, is sometimes heard as a surname. Add an -el and Denzel is the logical outcome. 

 In any case, it existed as a first and last name, in small numbers, for years.

ACTOR DENZEL WASHINGTON

Then along came Denzel Washington.

Strictly speaking, the actor’s full name is Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. 

His career started in television in the late 1970s. He played Dr. Phillip Chandler on medical drama St. Elsewhere in the 1980s. 

By the late 1980s, Washington was earning Academy Award nominations. A few years later, he began a long collaboration with filmmaker Spike Lee. Most of his characters were heroes or admirable men, like the football coach in Remember the Titans. But Washington had undeniable range. He played a corrupt police officer in 2001’s Training Day, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. And his career continued to range between action-packed blockbusters to prestige roles, like August Wilson’s Fences. 

It’s hard to capture the sheer number of awards and projects he’s worked on across his career. 

HOW IS THE NAME DENZEL PRONOUNCED?

Washington recently mentioned that his name wasn’t always pronounced den ZELL, emphasis on the second syllable.

Originally, Denzel rhymed with stencil. 

Except his mother decided it was confusing to have two Denzel-rhymes-with-stencil in the same house. So his dad kept the original pronunciation, and junior? He became den ZELL.

HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME DENZEL?

Still, there’s no question that a great many parents named their sons after the talented actor.

The name debuted in the United States Social Security Administration data in 1906, with six births. In 1980, when Washington was just getting started, the number was five births. 

But his distinctive name quickly caught on as his career flourished.

By 1990, the name debuted in the US Top 1000 at #444. It reached peak popularity at #311 in 1993. 

The baby name Denzel left the rankings after 2013. As of 2024, the name was given to 215 boys. 

It’s very occasionally been used across gender lines, with a tiny number of girls receiving the name in the 1910s. That might have more to do with trend for names like Mozelle and Ozella druing the era. 

OTHER MEN NAMED DENZEL

As it happens, Washington wasn’t the first, or even the second, bearer of his obscure, arisocratic name in the 20th century.

Denzil Douglas is a former prime minister of St. Kitts and Nevis. There’s also Welsh politician Denzil Davies, Indian actor Denzil Smith, and half-a-dozen others who were born before the actor became a household name.

But many notable figures were named after the actor, especially during the 1990s. And those men are now making their marks.

• Lots of athletes, including football player Denzel Burke of the Arizona Cardinals … and his teammate, Denzel Daxon.
• Beyond English-speaking countries, the name has been used in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Brazil, to name just a few. Including the spelling Denzil gives the name even more global reach.
• Young actor Denzel Whitaker, who made his on-screen debut in Training Day and later appeared with Washington in The Great Debaters. Whitaker was named for Washington. 
• Fans of The Fairly Oddparents might remember Mr. Denzel Crocker, the villain of the long-running animated series. 

HANDSOME CHOICE

At one point, the baby name Denzel must have seemed like an unusual name. 

But it threads the needle between creativity and rich history. 

Perceptions vary – some will see it as an invention in the key of Deontae or Deshawn. Others will understand Denzel as an overlooked, all-but-forgotten choice revived thanks the charisma of a successful actor. 

Overall, Denzel is a handsome, compelling choice. It’s fresher than Dennis, but not as new as Dariel. Like Dariel, Denzel benefits from the traditional -el ending of Daniel and Michael and Gabriel. 

And there’s no question it owes its success to the rise – and resilience – of the tremendoulsly talented Denzel Washington.  

What do you think of the baby name Denzel?