Given name & surname
Dionysius
“belonging to the light of the tree”
Dionysius is a masculine given name from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in English and Latin.
Original GreekΔιονυσιος
Meaning & origin
What it means
As a biblical name, Dionysius means “belonging to the light of the tree.”
From biblical name research
Where it comes from
Dionysius is a variant of Dionysus. An origin associated with Dionysus is Greek.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English usage, Dionysius developed from Διονύσιος.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1971. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Dionysius is a variant of Dionysus. The history of Dionysus gives this family its wider story. In mythological stories, Dionysus is associated with the god of wine and revelry.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Dionysius appears in Acts 17:34.
From biblical name research
Dionysius through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 27
- 27 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2002
- 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 7 in 2002. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dionysius’s family of names
In German usage, Dionysius has a short form in DINNIES. In Cebuano usage, Dionysius has a feminine form in Denise. In French usage, Dionysius has a related form in Denis.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Dionysius has relatives in 24 languages.
26 related names in 24 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 32
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Dennisderivative · ceb
- Denisefeminine form · ceb, English
- Dwightfeminine form · English
- DenysFrench
- DionisioSpanish, Italian
- Dionysiosequivalent
- Dionysiafeminine form · Latin
- Dionigiequivalent
Show 24 moreShow fewer
- Дзянісequivalent
- Dionisiyequivalent
- Dinisiborrowing · Sicilian
- Dinísiasborrowing · Irish
- DionizyPolish
- Divišderivative · zlw-ocs
- Dinesderivative · Danish
- Dionizijequivalent
- Dénesequivalent
- Дионисийequivalent
- Dzyanisequivalent
- Денисequivalent
- Διονύσιοςsource · Ancient Greek, Greek
- DniWalloon
- ĐiônisiôVietnamese
- Диони́сийRussian
- DionísioPortuguese
- DeunisOccitan
- DaunísOccitan
- DanísOccitan
- ⲇⲓⲱⲛⲏⲥⲓⲟⲥCoptic
- ᏓᏺꮒꮟꮿCherokee
- DionísCatalan
- ԴիոնիսիոսArmenian
See also 4
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Dionysius
- Dionysius LardnerIrish science writer (1793–1859)
- Denis the Carthusiantheologian1402–1471
- DionysiusArchbishop of Milan (4th c.)
- Dionysius, Metropolitan of MoscowRussian metropolitan1505–1591
- Dionysius Hayom Rumbakabadminton playerborn 1988
- Dionysius SebweLiberian footballer (born 1969)
- Dionysius Godefridus van der KeesselDutch university professor1738–1816
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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