2000
#4,996
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,443
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.39
Rare Last name
Dionne
French toponymic surname derived from several places in France or a variant of the given name Denis.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,348 Americans carry the last name Dionne. That puts it at #5,257 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.14 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 46,646 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dionne 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.
Bearers in the US
7.3K
1 in 46,646
Census rank
#5,257
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,408 bearers of the surname Dionne in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.14 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5257th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dionne, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dionne
The surname Dionne originates from France, deriving from the Greek name Dionysius, which was the name of the Greek god of wine and fertility. It is believed to have first appeared in the region of Normandy in the 11th century AD.
The name Dionne is thought to have derived from the Old French name Dion, which was a variant of the name Dionysius. This name was brought to England by the Normans after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dionne can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership and population in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Dion" in this record.
In the 13th century, a notable individual named Pierre Dionne was recorded as a landowner in the village of Bayeux, Normandy. Another early example is Jean Dionne, a French soldier who fought in the Hundred Years' War between England and France in the 14th century.
During the 16th century, the name Dionne was found in the records of the town of Dionne, located in the Burgundy region of France. This town likely took its name from a local landowner or noble with the surname Dionne.
One of the most famous individuals with the surname Dionne was Jacques Dionne (1568-1642), a French explorer and cartographer who mapped parts of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes region of North America.
Another notable figure was Alexis Dionne (1712-1784), a French-Canadian farmer and pioneer who settled in what is now Quebec, Canada. He is remembered for establishing one of the earliest settlements in the region.
In the 19th century, Édouard Dionne (1837-1915) was a renowned Canadian historian and archivist who wrote extensively about the history of Quebec and the French presence in North America.
Quintuplets Annette, Cécile, Émilie, Marie, and Yvonne Dionne (1934-present) were a set of five identical sisters born in Ontario, Canada, who became a major international celebrity in the 1930s and 1940s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dionne
Among Census respondents with the surname Dionne, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Dionne 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 Dionne surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.0% · 5,705
- Two or more races4.4% · 279
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 220
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 124
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 48
- Black or African American0.5% · 32
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dionne
Dionne 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
#5,153
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,788
+345 bearers (+5.4%)
Per 100,000 2.30
Rank movement Down 157 places
2020
#5,257
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,408
-380 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 2.14
Rank movement Down 104 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,996 | 6,443 | 2.39 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,153 | 6,788 | 2.30 | +345 bearers (+5.4%) | Down 157 places |
| 2020 | #5,257 | 6,408 | 2.14 | -380 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 104 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 Dionne 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 | #5,153 | #5,257 | -2.0% |
| Count | 6,788 | 6,408 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 2.30 | 2.14 | -6.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dionne bearers went from 6,788 to 6,408 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 104 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,153 to #5,257.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Dionne
FAQ
Dionne surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dionne?
Name Census estimates that about 7,348 living Americans carry the surname Dionne. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 46,646 residents.
How common is Dionne?
Dionne ranks #5,257 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.14 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,408 people with the surname Dionne. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,348), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.14 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.14 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Dionne.
Has Dionne become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dionne went from 6,788 recorded bearers to 6,408. That is a decrease of 380 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,153 to #5,257.
What does the Census say about the background of Dionne?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dionne, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Dionne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.0% (5,705 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dionne appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.0%), Two or More Races (4.4%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Dionne (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 Dionne mean?
French toponymic surname derived from several places in France or a variant of the given name Denis. 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 Dionne (2.14 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 people are called Dionne?
See how many people have the surname Dionne on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.