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

Dennis, 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 Dennis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dennis in America

Dennis is the 409th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dennis surname appeared 78,482 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 27 people would have the surname Dennis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dennis 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 Dennis

The surname Dennis has its origins in England, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the French given name "Denis," which itself comes from the Latin name "Dionysius." This Latin name has Greek roots and means "follower of Dionysus," the god of wine and vegetation in Greek mythology.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Dennis can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Denise" and "Denes." This suggests that the name was already in use during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century.

The surname Dennis was particularly prevalent in counties such as Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Oxfordshire in England. It is thought that the name may have been associated with certain place names, such as the village of Denham in Buckinghamshire, which was historically spelled as "Denham" or "Deneham."

Among the notable historical figures bearing the surname Dennis is Sir Walter Dennis (c. 1555-1634), an English courtier and politician who served as a Member of Parliament and as a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King James I.

Another prominent individual with the Dennis surname was John Dennis (1658-1734), an English critic and playwright who was known for his literary criticism and his play "Liberty Asserted" (1704).

In the realm of science, Francis Dennis (1612-1698) was an English physician and writer who published several works on medicine and natural philosophy.

The name also has a connection to the American Revolutionary War, with John Dennis (1755-1836), an American soldier who fought in the Continental Army and later served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lastly, a more recent figure is Carl Dennis (born 1939), an American poet and former poet laureate of the state of New York, known for his collections such as "Practical Gods" and "Night School."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dennis

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

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 Dennis 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 Dennis 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 Dennis was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dennis, 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!