2000
#250
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109,230
First available Census row
Per 100,000 40.49
Common Last name
Dean
An occupational surname for a dean, the head of a cathedral chapter or a dean of a medieval university.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 125,867 Americans carry the last name Dean. That puts it at #279 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 36.72 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,723 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dean surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Dean with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
126K
1 in 2,723
Census rank
#279
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
36.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
110K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 109,762 bearers of the surname Dean in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 36.72 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 279th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dean, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dean
The surname DEAN has its origins in medieval England, where it first emerged in the late 12th century. It is derived from the Old English word "denu," meaning a valley or a hollow, and was initially used as a topographic name to identify someone who lived near or in a valley.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname DEAN can be found in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1201, where a certain Robertus de la Dene is mentioned. This suggests that the name was already in use by the early 13th century, with the "de la" prefix indicating the person's association with a particular location.
As the surname continued to spread across England, it evolved into various spellings, such as Deane, Deyn, and Dene, reflecting regional dialects and scribal variations. Some notable early bearers of the name include John de la Dene, who was recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, and Thomas de la Dene, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1346.
The surname DEAN also has a connection to several place names in England, such as Dean in Bedfordshire, Dean in Cumbria, and Dean in Hampshire. These place names, derived from the same Old English word "denu," may have contributed to the widespread adoption of the surname in those regions.
Throughout history, the DEAN surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Gilbert de la Dene, a 13th-century English churchman who served as the Bishop of Llandaff from 1232 to 1245. In the 16th century, John Dene (c. 1490-1537) was a prominent English churchman and theologian who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1501 to 1503.
Another notable figure was Henry Deane (1597-1653), an English clergyman and mathematician who published several works on mathematics and astronomy. In the literary world, William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was an influential American novelist, literary critic, and playwright who played a significant role in the rise of realism in American literature.
Moving into more recent times, Dizzy Dean (1910-1974), whose full name was Jay Hanna Dean, was a celebrated American baseball player and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals and was known for his exceptional pitching skills and colorful personality.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dean
Among Census respondents with the surname Dean, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Dean bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Dean surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 80,795
- Black or African American16.4% · 18,009
- Two or more races4.5% · 4,938
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 3,974
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 1,333
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 713
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dean
Dean appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#269
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114,030
+4,800 bearers (+4.4%)
Per 100,000 38.66
Rank movement Down 19 places
2020
#279
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109,762
-4,268 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 36.72
Rank movement Down 10 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #250 | 109,230 | 40.49 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #269 | 114,030 | 38.66 | +4,800 bearers (+4.4%) | Down 19 places |
| 2020 | #279 | 109,762 | 36.72 | -4,268 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 10 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Dean surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #269 | #279 | -3.7% |
| Count | 114,030 | 109,762 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 38.66 | 36.72 | -5.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dean bearers went from 114,030 to 109,762 (-3.7% change). The surname moved down 10 positions in the national ranking, going from #269 to #279.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Dean
FAQ
Dean surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dean?
Name Census estimates that about 125,867 living Americans carry the surname Dean. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,723 residents.
How common is Dean?
Dean ranks #279 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 36.72 per 100,000 residents, which is about 37 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 109,762 people with the surname Dean. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (125,867), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 36.72 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 36.72 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 37 of them to have the surname Dean.
Has Dean become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dean went from 114,030 recorded bearers to 109,762. That is a decrease of 4,268 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #269 to #279.
What does the Census say about the background of Dean?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dean, the largest self-reported group is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Dean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (80,795 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dean appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (73.6%), Black (16.4%), Two or More Races (4.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Dean (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Dean mean?
An occupational surname for a dean, the head of a cathedral chapter or a dean of a medieval university. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Dean (36.72 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Dean?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.