Dennis

Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.

The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometimes said to be derived from the Greek Dios (Διός, "of Zeus") and Nysos or Nysa (Νῦσα), where the young god was raised. Dionysus (or Dionysos; also known as Bacchus in Roman mythology and associated with the Italic Liber), the Thracian god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficent influences. He is viewed as the promoter of civilization, a lawgiver, and a lover of peace—as well as the patron deity of both agriculture and the theatre.

Dionysus is a god of mystery religious rites, such as those practised in honour of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis near Athens. In the Thracian mysteries, he wears the "bassaris" or fox-skin, symbolizing new life. (See also Maenads.)

A mediaeval Latinised form of the Anglo-Norman surname Le Denys was Dacus, which correctly meant Dacian, but when the Vikings were about was often used to mean "Danish" or "The Dane". The name became modernised as Denys, then later as Dennis.

Alternative forms and spellings of the name include Denis, Denys, Dennys, Denish, Deon, Deonne, Deonte, and Dion, Dionice. Diminutive forms include Den, Dennoh, Deno, Denny, Deny and Deen.

The name Sydenie (alternate spellings: Sydney or Sidney) may derive from a village in Normandy called Saint-Denis. A medieval diminutive was Dye, from which the names Dyson and Tyson are derived.

Dennis is a very popular English, Irish and Danish name, common throughout the English-speaking world, and a very popular French name, common throughout the Francophone world. It is also common as a German, Italian, Dutch, Croatian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Brazilian, Bosnian, and Albanian name.

Dionizy is the Polish version of the name, while Dionigi and Dionisio are the Italian versions of the name. The Irish name Donnchadh is sometimes anglicised as Denis, but has a different origin and is in fact related to the names Duncan and Donagh. Feminine versions of the name include: Denise, Denisa, Deni, Denice, Deniece, Dione, and Dionne.

Variants

 * Dānnísī (丹尼斯): Chinese
 * Dénes, Dienes, Gyenis, Gyenes: Hungarian
 * Denis: Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian (Денис), Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Macedonian (Денис), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian (Денис), Serbo-Croatian (also Денис), Slovak, Slovene
 * Deniseu (데니스): Korean
 * Deniss: Latvian
 * Denisu (デニス): Japanese
 * Denijs: Middle Dutch
 * Deniz: Turkish (actual meaning is sea) A common male and female Turkish name, etymologically not related to "Dennis", but based on the Turkish word for "sea": 'deniz '.
 * Dênis: Portuguese (Brazilian)
 * Dennis: Danish, Dutch, English, German, Norwegian, Swedish
 * Denny: English
 * Denys (Денис): Ukrainian
 * Dinis, Diniz, Dionísio: Portuguese
 * Dion: English, French (medieval diminutive), Greek (diminutive: Δίων)
 * Dionigi: Italian
 * Dionisius, Dennis : Indonesian
 * Dionís: Catalan
 * Dionise, Dionisie: Romanian
 * Dionisije (Дионисије): Serbian
 * Dionisio: Italian, Spanish
 * Dionisos (Դիոնիսոս): Armenian
 * Dionizy; Dionizjusz (archaic): Polish
 * Dionysios (Διονύσιος): Greek
 * Dionýz: Slovak
 * Diviš: Czech
 * Donncha: Irish
 * Dzianis (Дзяніс): Belarusian
 * Genis (Генис): Udmurt
 * Tõnis: Estonian

Common combinations with given name Dennis

 * Dennis Allen
 * Dennis Anderson
 * Dennis Avery
 * Dennis Bailey
 * Dennis Baker
 * Dennis Bell
 * Dennis Bennett
 * Dennis Blair
 * Dennis Boles
 * Dennis Boyd
 * Dennis Brown
 * Dennis Brown
 * Dennis Donovan
 * Dennis Dougherty
 * Dennis Moore
 * Dennis Murphy
 * Dennis Murray
 * Dennis Nelson
 * Dennis O'Neill
 * Dennis Olsen
 * Dennis Olson
 * Dennis Peters
 * Dennis Phillips
 * Dennis Rasmussen
 * Dennis Richardson
 * Dennis Rivera
 * Dennis Roberts
 * Dennis Robertson
 * Dennis Schmidt
 * Dennis Scott
 * Dennis Smith
 * Dennis Stewart
 * Dennis Sullivan
 * Dennis Thompson
 * Dennis Walker
 * Dennis Ward
 * Dennis Waterman
 * Dennis White
 * Dennis Williams
 * Dennis Young

A-E

 * Dennis Aase (1942–2023), American race car driver
 * Dennis Albaugh (born 1949/50), American billionaire, founder and chairman of Albaugh LLC
 * Dennis Alexio (born 1959), American kickboxer
 * Dennis Aogo (born 1987), German footballer
 * Dennis Barth (1951–1978), Jamaican gangster
 * Dennis Bergkamp (born 1969), Dutch footballer
 * Dennis Blake (born 1970), Jamaican track and field athlete
 * Dennis C. Bottorff (born 1944), American business executive.
 * Dennis Brain (1921–1957), English virtuoso horn player
 * Dennis Brinkmann (born 1978), German footballer and manager
 * Dennis Brunod (born 1978), Italian ski mountaineer and sky-runner
 * Dennis Buschening (born 1991), German-Thai professional footballer
 * Dennis Cagara (born 1985), Danish footballer
 * Dennis Chambers (born 1959), American drummer
 * Dennis Clifford (born 1992), American basketball player
 * Dennis Cole (1940–2009), American actor
 * Dennis Coles (born 1970), American rapper known as Ghostface Killah
 * Dennis Daley (born 1996), American football player
 * Dennis Danell (1961–2000), guitarist with the band Social Distortion
 * Dennis Daugaard (born 1953), American politician
 * Dennis Day (1942–2018), American murder victim
 * Dennis Delane (died 1750), Irish actor
 * Dennis DeYoung (born 1947), lead singer and keyboardist for pop music group Styx
 * Dennis Diekmeier (born 1989), German footballer
 * Dennis A. Dougherty (born 1952), American professor of chemistry
 * Dennis Eckersley (born 1954), American baseball player
 * Dennis Eilhoff (born 1982), German footballer
 * Dennis Endras (born 1985), German ice hockey goaltender
 * Dennis Erickson (born 1947), American football head coach

F-K

 * Dennis Farina (1944–2013), American character actor
 * Dennis Fentie (1950–2019), Canadian politician
 * Dennis Ferrera (born 1980), Honduran footballer
 * Dennis Foggia (born 2001), Italian motorcycle rider
 * Dennis Franks (1953–2021), American football player
 * Dennis Franz (born 1944), American actor
 * Dennis Frederiksen (1951–2014), American singer
 * Dennis Gabor (1900–1979), Hungarian electrical engineer and inventor
 * Dennis Gansel (born 1973), German film director
 * Dennis Gardeck (born 1994), American football player
 * Dennis Gentenaar (born 1975), Dutch footballer
 * Dennis Gile (born 1981), American football player
 * Dennis González (1954–2022), American jazz musician, poet and visual artist
 * Dennis Green (1949–2016), American football head coach
 * Dennis Grote (born 1986), German footballer
 * Dennis Hapugalle (1930–2000), Sri Lankan Sinhala army brigadier
 * Dennis Hastert (born 1942), American politician
 * Dennis Hauger (born 2003), Norwegian racing driver
 * Dennis Havrilla (born 1987), American football player
 * Dennis Hayden (actor) (born 1952), American actor
 * Dennis Haysbert (born 1954), American actor
 * Dennis Hopper (1936–2010), American actor, filmmaker and artist
 * Dennis Houston (born 1999), American football player
 * Dennis Johnson (1954–2007), American basketball player
 * Dennis Joseph (1957–2021), Malayalam scriptwriter and director
 * Dennis Kelly (born 1970), British writer and producer
 * Dennis Kipruto Kimetto (born 1984), Kenyan long-distance runner
 * Dennis Kramer (1992–2023), German-American basketball player
 * Dennis Kruppke (born 1980), German footballer
 * Dennis Kucinich (born 1946), American politician

L-R

 * Dennis Law (born 1963), Hong Kong film director
 * Dennis Lennon (1918–1991), British architect and interior designer
 * Dennis Lillee (born 1949), Australian cricketer
 * Dennis Lisk (born 1977), German rapper known as Denyo
 * Dennis Lo (born 1963), Hong Kong molecular biologist
 * Dennis Lundy (born 1972), American football player
 * Dennis Lynds, pseudonym of Michael Collins (American author) (1924–2005)
 * Dennis Lyxzén (born 1972), Swedish musician
 * Dennis Miller (born 1953), American comedian and talk show host
 * Dennis Muilenburg (born 1964), American businessman, CEO of Boeing
 * Dennis Nehring, American politician
 * Dennis Nielsen (born 1947), American colonel and politician
 * Dennis Nilsen (1945–2018), Scottish serial killer
 * Dennis Oli (born 1984), English footballer
 * Dennis Patera (born 1945), American football player
 * Dennis Paul (fl. 2010s–2020s), American politician
 * Dennis Prager (born 1948), American radio host
 * Dennis Price (1915–1973), English actor
 * Dennis Quaid (born 1954), American actor
 * Dennis Rader (born 1945), American serial killer
 * Dennis Ritchie (1941–2011), American computer scientist
 * Dennis Rodman (born 1961), American basketball player
 * Dennis Rommedahl (born 1978), Danish footballer
 * Dennis Rudolph (born 1979), German conceptual artist

S-Z

 * Dennis Santana (born 1996), Dominican professional baseball pitcher
 * Dennis Sarfate (born 1981), American baseball player
 * Dennis Schröder (born 1993), German basketball player
 * Dennis Schulp (born 1978), Dutch footballer
 * Dennis Seidenberg (born 1981), German ice hockey player
 * Dennis Souza (born 1980), Brazilian footballer
 * Dennis Stewart (basketball) (born 1947), American professional basketball player
 * Dennis Stewart (judoka) (born 1960), British judoka
 * Dennis Cleveland Stewart (1947–1994), American actor and dancer
 * Dennis Taylor (born 1949), Northern Irish snooker player
 * Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas (1951–2021), founding member of the band Kool & the Gang
 * Dennis Tito (born 1940), American engineer, multimillionaire and space tourist
 * Dennis To (born 1981), Hong Kong martial artist and actor
 * Dennis Trillo (born 1981), Filipino actor
 * Dennis Tufano (born 1946), American singer
 * Dennis Uy (born 1973), Chinese-Filipino businessman
 * Dennis van der Geest (born 1975), Dutch judoka
 * Dennis Waterman (1948–2022), English actor and singer
 * Dennis Weaver (1924–2006), American actor
 * Dennis Wheatley (1897–1977), English author
 * Dennis A. Wicker (born 1952), American lawyer and politician
 * Dennis Williams (born 1965), American basketball player
 * Dennis Wilson (1944–1983), American musician, co-founder of The Beach Boys
 * Dennis Wise (born 1966), English footballer and manager
 * Dennis Zent (born 1948), American politician
 * Dennis Ziadie (1946–1986), Jamaican footballer
 * Dennis Ziegenhorn (born 1947), American politician
 * Dennis Zine (born 1947), American politician
 * Dennis Zuill (born 1978), Bermudian footballer

Fictional characters

 * Dennis Blunden, main character from Head of the Class
 * Dennis Creevey, minor character from Harry Potter
 * Dennis Finch, main character from Just Shoot Me
 * Dennis Lapman, character from Final Destination 5
 * Dennis Loughran, aka Denisovich, from the 2015 animated sequel film Hotel Transylvania 2 and its two sequels Hotel Transylvania 3: Monster Vacation and Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania is the young vampire/human hybrid son of vampire Mavis and human Johnathon.
 * Dennis Nedry, character from Jurassic Park
 * Dennis Reynolds, main character from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
 * Dennis, Stanley's talking pet goldfish in the Playhouse Disney animated show Stanley
 * Dennis Tanner, character on Coronation Street from its first episode in 1960 until 2014.
 * Dennis the Hitman, is Plankton's bounty hunter and the secondary main villain from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
 * Dennis the Diesel, minor character from Thomas and Friends
 * Dennis, character from Far Cry 3
 * Dennis, the title character in the 2006 film Love Belongs to Everyone (released in Belgium as Dennis van Rita), played by Matthias Schoenaerts
 * Dennis the Menace (UK comics) in The Beano
 * Dennis the Menace (U.S. comics), a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip whose eponymous protagonist is named Dennis Mitchell
 * Dennis the Menace (film) (released in the United Kingdom as Dennis), a 1993 live-action American family film based on the comic strip
 * Dennis the Peasant, minor character from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
 * Dennis Duffy, a minor character from 30 Rock
 * "Phantom Dennis", Cordelia Chase's deceased roommate on Angel
 * Dennis "Cutty" Wise, character on the HBO drama The Wire

A-L

 * Aubrey Dennis (born 1929), South African cricketer
 * Bill Dennis (born 1935), American NASCAR driver
 * Bo Dennis, fictional star of Lost Girl
 * C. J. Dennis (1876–1938), Australian poet
 * Carl Dennis (born 1939), American poet and educator
 * Carolyn Dennis (born 1954), American singer and actor
 * Cathy Dennis (born 1969), English singer-songwriter, record producer and actress
 * Cecil Dennis (1931–1980), Liberian political figure who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Charles Dennis (born 1946), Canadian actor, playwright, director and screenwriter
 * Cheri Dennis (born 1979), American singer
 * Clare Dennis (1916–1971), Australian breaststroke swimmer
 * David W. Dennis (1912–1999), American politician
 * Derek Dennis (born 1988), American football player
 * Diana Dennis (born 1951), American female bodybuilder
 * Eddie Dennis (born 1986), Welsh professional wrestler
 * Elias Smith Dennis (1812–1894), American lawyer, politician and soldier
 * Elizabeth Salisbury Dennis (born 1943), Australian plant molecular biologist
 * Emmanuel Dennis (born 1997), Nigerian football player
 * Eugene Dennis (1905–1961), American politician and leader of the Communist Party USA
 * Everette Dennis (fl. 2010s), American scholar
 * Felix Dennis (1947–2014), English magazine publisher and philanthropist
 * Ferdinand Dennis (born 1956), Jamaican-born writer, broadcaster, journalist
 * Franklyn Dennis (born 1947), Canadian cricketer
 * Gabriel Lafayette Dennis (1896–1954), Liberian politician
 * Geoffrey Dennis (1892–1963), English writer
 * George Dennis (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Hershel Dennis (born 1984), American football player
 * Hugh Dennis (born 1962), English actor, comedian, writer
 * Jack Dennis (born 1931), American electrical engineer and computer scientist
 * Jake Dennis (born 1995), British Formula E driver
 * James Dennis (disambiguation), multiple people
 * John Dennis (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Kristian Dennis (born 1990), English footballer
 * Lawrence Dennis (1893–1977), American diplomat, consultant and author
 * Les Dennis (born 1953), English comedian and actor
 * Littleton Dennis Jr. (1765–1833), associate justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals
 * Littleton Purnell Dennis (1786–1834), American politician
 * Lori Dennis (born 1969), American interior designer

M-Z

 * Matt Dennis (1914–2002), American singer and bandleader
 * Monika Larsen Dennis (born 1963), Swedish sculptor, filmmaker
 * Morgan Dennis (1892–1960), American illustrator and author
 * N. Dennis (1929–2013), Indian politician
 * Nick Dennis (1904–1980), American actor
 * Nigel Dennis (1912–1989), English writer, critic, playwright and magazine editor
 * Patrick Dennis (1921–1976), American author
 * Peter Dennis (disambiguation), multiple people
 * RayJ Dennis (born 2001), American basketball player
 * Richard Dennis (born 1949), American commodities trader
 * Richard William George Dennis (1910–2003), British mycologist
 * Robert J. Dennis (fl. 1980s–2020s), American businessman, chairman and CEO of Genesco
 * Ron Dennis (born 1947), English former executive chairman of McLaren Automotive
 * Roy L. Dennis (1961–1978), American boy afflicted with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia
 * Samuel Dennis (academic) (fl. 1770s–1790s), English academic administrator
 * Samuel Dennis (Australian politician) (1870–1945), Australian politician
 * Samuel K. Dennis (died 1892), American politician
 * Samuel K. Dennis Jr. (1874–1953), American politician and judge
 * Sandy Dennis (1937–1992), American theater and film actress
 * Shaun Dennis (born 1969), Scottish footballer
 * Simon Dennis (disambiguation), multiple people
 * SirVocea Dennis (born 2000), American football player
 * Tom Dennis (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Wesley Dennis (born 1963), American country music artist
 * Weston Dennis (fl. 2010s–2020s), also known as Westballz, American Super Smash Bros. Melee player
 * William Dennis (disambiguation)
 * Willie Dennis (1926–1965), American jazz trombonist
 * Willye Dennis (1926–2012), American librarian and civil rights activist