Given name & surname
Denison
“the son of Dennis”
Denison is a variant of Dennison. One English interpretation is “the son of Dennis.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Denison is a variant of Dennison. One English interpretation is “the son of Dennis.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Denison is a variant of Dennison. An origin associated with Dennison is English.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English usage, Denison as a surname has a “son of” formation linked to Denis.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1916. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Denison through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 64
- 64 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1944
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2019. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 7 in 1944. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 294 as a first name in 2020; 6,045 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Denison’s family of names
In English usage, Denison as a surname has a “son of” formation linked to Denis. Denison has a related form in Dennison.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Denison
- Denison OlmstedU.S. physicist and astronomer (1791–1859)
- Denison CliftAmerican film director, writer (1885–1961)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Denison, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Dotson
“the son of Dot”
>99% boys
Delton
“from the town in the valley”
>99% boys
Dian
Dian is a feminine given name from Javanese. It is used in Indonesian.
>99% boys
Denny
“a follower of Dionysus” · “follower of Dionysus”
98% boys · 2% girls
Don
“from of Donald, meaning”
>99% boys
Eudon
“gift, grace”
>99% boys
Deane
“from the valley; a church official”
>99% boys
Delphus
>99% boys
Sibling ideas
Names that share Denison’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.
A sister for Denison