Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Saint Dionysius (disambiguation), Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Classical mythology, 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 Nysa (mythology), 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 lover of peace—as well as the patron deity of both agriculture and the theater. Dionysus is a god of mystery religious rites, such as those practiced in honor 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 List of Latinised names, 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 (given name), 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 (disambiguation), Sidney) may derive from a village in Normandy called Saint-Denis. A medieval diminutive was Dye, from which the names Dyson (surname), Dyson and Tyson are derived. Dennis is a very popular English people, English, Irish people, Irish and Danish people, Danish name, common throughout the English-speaking world. Denis is a very popular French people, French name, common throughout the Francophone world, but is also a common English people, English, Irish people, Irish, German people, German, Italian people, Italian, Dutch people, Dutch, Croats, Croatian, Belarusians, Belarusian, Ukrainians, Ukrainian, Russians, Russian, Bulgarians, Bulgarian, Brazilian, Bosniaks, Bosnian, and Albanian people, Albanian name. ''Dionizy'' is the Polish language, Polish version of the name. ''Dionigi'' and ''Dionisio'' are the Italian language, Italian versions of the name. The Irish language, Irish name Donnchadh may be anglicised as ''Denis'', but has a different origin and is in fact related to the name Duncan (given name), Duncan. Feminine versions of the name include: Denise (given name), Denise, Denisa, Deni, Denice, Deniece, Dione, and Dionne.

Variants

* Dānnísī (丹尼斯): Chinese language, Chinese * Dénes, Dienes (surname), Dienes, Gyenis, Gyenes: Hungarian language, Hungarian * Denis: Albanian language, Albanian, Bosnian language, Bosnian, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian (Денис), Croatian language, Croatian, Czech language, Czech, English language, English, French language, French, German language, German, Italian language, Italian, Lithuanian language, Lithuanian, Macedonian language, Macedonian (Денис), Polish language, Polish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, Romanian language, Romanian, Russian language, Russian (Денис), Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian (also Денис), Slovak language, Slovak, Slovene language, Slovene * Deniseu (데니스): Korean language, Korean * Deniss: Latvian language, Latvian * Denisu (デニス): Japanese language, Japanese * Denijs: Middle Dutch * Deniz: Turkish language, Turkish (''actual meaning is sea'') * Dêniz: Portuguese language, Portuguese (''Brazilian'') * Dennis: Danish language, Danish, Dutch language, Dutch, English language, English, German language, German, Norwegian language, Norwegian, Swedish language, Swedish * Denny: English language, English * Denys (Денис): Ukrainian language, Ukrainian * Dinis, Diniz, Dionísio: Portuguese language, Portuguese * Dion: English language, English, French language, French (''medieval diminutive''), Greek language, Greek (''diminutive'': Δίων) * Dionigi: Italian language, Italian * Dionís: Catalan language, Catalan * Dionise, Dionisie: Romanian language, Romanian * Dionisije (Дионисије): Serbian language, Serbian * Dionisio: Italian language, Italian, Spanish language, Spanish * Dionisos (Դիոնիսոս): Armenian language, Armenian * Dionizy; Dionizjusz (archaic): Polish language, Polish * Dionysios (Διονύσιος): Greek language, Greek * Dionýz: Slovak language, Slovak * Diviš: Czech language, Czech * Dzianis (Дзяніс): Belarusian language, Belarusian * Genis (Генис): Udmurt language, Udmurt * Tõnis: Estonian language, Estonian

People with the given name Dennis

* Dennis Albaugh (born 1949/50), American billionaire, founder and chairman of Albaugh LLC * Dennis Alexio, American kickboxer * Dennis Aogo, German footballer * Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer * Dennis Blake, Jamaican track and field athlete * Dennis C. Bottorff, American business executive. * Dennis Brain, English virtuoso horn player * Dennis Brinkmann, German footballer and manager * Dennis Brunod, Italian ski mountaineer and skyrunner * Dennis Buschening, German-Thai professional footballer * Dennis Cagara, Danish footballer * Dennis Chambers, American drummer * Dennis Clifford, American basketball player * Dennis Cole, American actor * Dennis Coles, American rapper known as Ghostface Killah * Dennis Daley (born 1996), American football player * Dennis Danell, guitarist with band Social Distortion * Dennis Day (Mouseketeer), Dennis Day (1942–2018), American murder victim * Dennis Delane, Irish actor * Dennis DeYoung, lead singer and keyboardist pop music group Styx * Dennis Diekmeier, German footballer * Dennis Daugaard, American politician * Dennis Eckersley, American baseball player * Dennis Eilhoff, German footballer * Dennis Endras, German ice hockey goaltender * Dennis Erickson, American football head coach * Dennis Farina (1944–2013), American character actor * Dennis Fentie, Canadian politician * Dennis Ferrera, Honduran footballer * Dennis Foggia, Italian motorcycle rider * Dennis Franz, American actor * Dennis Frederiksen (1951–2014), American singer * Dennis Gabor, Hungarian electrical engineer and inventor * Dennis Gansel, German film director * Dennis Gardeck, American football player * Dennis Gentenaar, Dutch footballer * Dennis Gile, American football player * Dennis González, American jazz musician, poet and visual artist * Dennis Green, American football head coach * Dennis Grote, German footballer * Dennis Hapugalle, Dennis Hapugalla (1930-2000), Sri Lankan Sinhala army brigadier * Dennis Hastert, American politician * Dennis Havrilla, American football player * Dennis Hayden (actor), 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 James (disambiguation), several people * Dennis Johnson, American basketball player * Dennis Joseph, Malayalam scriptwriter and director * Dennis Kimetto, Kenyan long-distance runner * Dennis Kruppke, German footballer * Dennis Kucinich, American politician * Dennis Law (born 1963), Hong Kong film director * Denis Leary, American actor and comedian * Dennis Lennon (1918–1991), British architect and interior designer * Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer * Dennis Lisk, German rapper known as Denyo * Dennis Lo (born 1963), Hong Kong molecular biologist * Dennis Lundy, American football player * Dennis Lynds, pseudonym of Michael Collins (American author) * Dennis Lyxzén, Swedish musician * Dennis Miller, American comedian and talk show host * Dennis Muilenburg (born 1964), American businessman, CEO of Boeing * Dennis Nielsen, American colonel and politician * Dennis Nilsen (1945–2018), Scottish serial killer * Dennis Oli, English footballer * Dennis Patera, American football player * Dennis Paul, American politician * Denis Payton, British musician, saxophonist of Dave Clark Five * Dennis Prager, American radio host * Quentin Crisp, Denis Charles Pratt, birth name of British writer, raconteur and gay icon Quentin Crisp * Dennis Price, English actor * Dennis Quaid, American actor * Dennis Rader, American serial killer * Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist * Dennis Rodman, American basketball player * Dennis Rommedahl, Danish footballer * Dennis Sarfate (born 1981), American baseball player * Dennis Schröder (born 1993), German basketball player * Dennis Schulp, Dutch footballer * Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player * Dennis Smith (disambiguation), several people * Dennis Souza, Brazilian footballer * Dennis Stewart (judoka), British judoka * Dennis Taylor, Northern Irish snooker player * Dennis Tito, American engineer, multimillionaire and space tourist * Dennis Tufano (born 1946), American singer * Dennis Uy (born 1973), Chinese-Filipino businessman * Dennis van der Geest, Dutch judoka * Dennis Waterman (1948–2022), English actor and singer * Dennis Weaver, American actor * Dennis Wheatley, English author * Dennis Williams (basketball), Dennis Williams (born 1965), American basketball player * Dennis Wilson (1944–1983), American musician, co-founder of The Beach Boys * Dennis Wise, English footballer and manager

Fictional characters

* Hogwarts students#Colin and Dennis Creevey, Dennis Creevey, minor character from ''Harry Potter'' * Just Shoot Me!#Dennis Finch, Dennis Finch, main character from ''Just Shoot Me'' * Hotel Transylvania characters#Dennis, Dennis Loughran, aka Denisovich, from the 2015 animated sequel film ''Hotel Transylvania 2'' and its two sequels ''Hotel Transylvania 3, Hotel Transylvania 3: Monster Vacation'' and ''Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania'' is the young vampire/human hybrid son of vampire Mavis and human Johnathon. * List of characters in Jurassic Park#Dennis Nedry, Dennis Nedry, character from ''Jurassic Park'' * List of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia characters#Dennis Reynolds, Dennis Reynolds, main character from ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' * Stanley (2001 TV series), Dennis, Stanley's talking pet goldfish in the Playhouse Disney animated show Stanley (2001 TV series), Stanley * Dennis Tanner, character on Coronation Street from its first episode in 1960 until 2014. * Dennis the Hitman, is Plankton (Spongebob), Plankton's bounty hunter and the secondary main villain from ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie#Cast, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' (2004) * Railway engines (Thomas and Friends)#Dennis, Dennis the Locomotive, minor character from ''Thomas and Friends'' * 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 (1993 film), ''Dennis the Menace'' (film) (released in the United Kingdom as ''Dennis''), a 1993 live-action American family film based on the comic strip * Dennis, character from ''Far Cry 3'' * Monty Python and the Holy Grail#Characters, 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 (1999 TV series), Angel'' * Dennis, the title character in the 2006 film ''Love Belongs to Everyone'' (released in Belgium as ''Dennis van Rita''), played by Matthias Schoenaerts * Dennis Lapman, character from ''Final Destination 5''

People with the surname Dennis

* Aubrey Dennis, South African cricketer * Bill Dennis (born 1935), American NASCAR driver * Bo Dennis, star of Lost Girl * C. J. Dennis, Australian poet * Carl Dennis, American poet and educator * Carolyn Dennis, American singer and actor * Cathy Dennis, English singer-songwriter, record producer and actress * Cecil Dennis, Liberian political figure who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs * Charles Dennis, Canadian actor, playwright, director and screenwriter * Cheri Dennis, American singer * Clare Dennis, Australian breaststroke swimmer * David W. Dennis, American politician * Derek Dennis, American football player * Diana Dennis, American female bodybuilder * Eddie Dennis, Welsh professional wrestler * Elias Smith Dennis, American lawyer, politician and soldier * Liz Dennis, Elizabeth Salisbury Dennis, Australian plant molecular biologist * Emmanuel Dennis, Nigerian football player * Eugene Dennis, American politician and leader of the Communist Party USA * Everette Dennis, American scholar * Felix Dennis, English magazine publisher and philanthropist * Ferdinand Dennis, Jamaican-born writer, broadcaster, journalist * Franklyn Dennis, Canadian cricketer * Gabriel Lafayette Dennis, Liberian politician * Geoffrey Dennis (1892–1963), English writer * George Dennis (disambiguation), several people * Hershel Dennis, American football player * Hugh Dennis, English actor, comedian, writer * Jack Dennis, American electrical engineer and computer scientist * Jake Dennis, British Formula E driver * John Dennis (disambiguation), several people * Kristian Dennis, English footballer * Lawrence Dennis, American diplomat, consultant and author * Les Dennis, English comedian and actor * Matt Dennis, American singer and bandleader * Morgan Dennis, American illustrator and author * N. Dennis (1929–2013), Indian politician * Nick Dennis, American actor * Nigel Dennis, English writer, critic, playwright and magazine editor * Patrick Dennis, American author * Richard Dennis, American commodities trader * Robert J. Dennis, American businessman, chairman and CEO of Genesco * Ron Dennis, English former executive chairman of McLaren Automotive * Roy L. Dennis, American boy afflicted with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia * R. W. G. Dennis, British mycologist * Samuel Dennis (1870–1945), Australian politician * Samuel Dennis (academic), English academic administrator * Samuel K. Dennis (died 1892), American politician * Samuel K. Dennis Jr. (1874–1953), American politician and judge * Sandy Dennis, American theater and film actress * Shaun Dennis, Scottish footballer * Simon Dennis (disambiguation), several people * Tom Dennis (disambiguation), several people * Wesley Dennis, American country music artist * Weston Dennis, also known as Westballz, American ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' player * William Dennis (disambiguation) * Willie Dennis, American jazz trombonist * Willye Dennis, American librarian and civil rights activist

External links

* {{given name Given names of Greek language origin English given names English masculine given names Theophoric names English-language surnames