Find out how popular the last name Dena is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Dena.

Dena, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Dena surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dena in America

Dena is the 22559th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dena surname appeared 1,139 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Dena.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dena to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Dena

The surname DENA has its origins in Northern India and is believed to have emerged during the 16th century CE. It is speculated to be derived from the Sanskrit word 'dena', which means 'gift' or 'donation'. This suggests that the name may have been initially bestowed upon someone who was known for their generosity or charitable nature.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname DENA can be traced back to the 1550s in the archives of the Mughal Empire, where it appears in several administrative records and tax documents. One notable mention is found in the 'Ain-i-Akbari', a 16th-century Persian manuscript commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar, which lists several individuals bearing the surname DENA in various roles within the imperial bureaucracy.

During the 17th century, the surname DENA began to spread beyond Northern India, with records indicating individuals bearing this name residing in regions such as Bengal and the Deccan Plateau. One of the earliest known individuals with this surname was Mirza Dena, a poet and calligrapher who lived in the court of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 1630s.

As the Mughal Empire declined in the 18th century, the surname DENA continued to be found in various parts of the subcontinent. Notable individuals from this period include Rao Dena Singh, a military commander who served under the Maratha ruler Shivaji in the late 17th century, and Dena Ram, a renowned scholar and translator who produced several works on Hindu philosophy in the early 18th century.

In the 19th century, the surname DENA gained prominence in the region of Gujarat, with several prominent merchants and industrialists bearing this name. One such individual was Ranchhodlal Dena, a successful textile merchant who established a thriving business empire in the city of Ahmedabad in the mid-1800s.

As the Indian diaspora spread across the globe in the 20th century, the surname DENA became more widely dispersed. One notable figure from this period was Dena Mehta, an Indian-American writer and activist who played a significant role in the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1960s and 70s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dena

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Dena.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Dena was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Dena has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Dena was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dena, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!