Dean (surname)

This article is about the surname Dean. For other uses, see Dean.

Dean

Pronunciation	Deen
Origin
Word/name	Old English
Meaning	"Valley”
Region of origin	England
Other names
Variant form(s)	Deane, Deen, Dene, Deans, Deanes, Denes, Denn, Denne, De Dene

Dean is a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin. It is originally derived from the Old English word "denu" (Middle English, "dene") meaning "valley." Another less common variant of the surname is Deane.

Gloucestershire

The view north towards Ross-on-Wye from Symonds Yat Rock, in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire

Origin and variants

Dean is thought to be a habitational name from any of several places in various parts of England that are known by a variation of the name. The first bearers of the surname lived in Anglo-Saxon England in mountainous or hilly areas where they would have adopted the name as a habitational marker. The surname is historically concentrated in the West Country in South West England, particularly in and around the county of Gloucestershire, and there are several places called Dean in or around the area, suggesting that this region may be the surname’s likely area of origin. The surname is also historically found in Scotland and Ireland

Perhaps less likely, it may also be a descriptive name for someone thought to resemble an ecclesiastical Dean, or an occupational name associated with the servant of a Dean, derived from the Middle English word "deen," which is itself ultimately derived from the Latin word "decanus" (modern English, Deacon), meaning "a leader of ten men".

Recorded usage of the name dates back to the late 11th Century when it was recorded as the surname of several individuals. The first known person on record to use the Dean surname appears to have been an individual named Robert de Dene, who was a “Pincema,” or, an official in charge of wine and beverage for King Edward the Confessor (1042-1066). His descendants, known as Denn or Denne, were landowners in Kent and Sussex, but apparently died out by the 1600’s. Another known early Dean was an individual named Ralph De Dene, who was recorded in the Domesday Book for Sussex during the reign of William the Conqueror (1066-1087) in 1086.

The official use of surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. Until the gradual standardization of English spelling in the last few centuries however, English lacked any comprehensive system of spelling. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents, meaning that a person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. As such, different variations of the Dean surname usually have the same origin.

Other variant spellings include:

• Deane (common)
• Deen
• Dene
• Deans
• Deanes
• Denes
• Denn
• Denne
• De Dene (archaic)

Notable people with the surname

• Dean (Middlesex cricketer) (fl. 1787–1790), amateur cricketer from Middlesex
• Angela Dean, British statistician
• Anna-Maria Ravnopolska-Dean, harpist
• Bashford Dean, American ornithologist
• Brenda Dean (1943–2018), British trade unionist and politician
• Brett Dean (born 1961), Australian composer
• Charles Dean (died 1974), deceased brother of Howard Dean and Jim Dean
• Charmaine Dean (born 1958), statistician from Trinidad, president of Statistical Society of Canada
• Christopher Dean, British figure skater
• Dixie Dean, English footballer
• Dizzy Dean (1910–1974), baseball pitcher
• Eddie Dean (disambiguation), several people
• Elton Dean, jazz musician
• Everett Dean (1898–1993), American college sports coach
• Gordon Dean (disambiguation), several people
• Henry Clay Dean, American orator and author
• Howard Dean, U.S. presidential candidate in 2004 elections
• James Dean (1931–1955), American actor
• James Dean (disambiguation), other people with this name or variants such as Jim or Jimmy
• Janet Dean, later Janet Dean Fodor, American professor of linguistics
• Jim Dean (DFA), Chairman of Democracy for America
• Jimmy Dean (1928–2010), American singer and actor
• Joe Dean (1930–2013), American basketball player, sportscaster, and sports administrator
• John Dean (born 1938), White House Counsel to President Richard M. Nixon and central Watergate figure
• Julia Dean (actress, born 1830) (1830–1868), stage actress
• Julia Dean (actress, born 1878) (1878–1952), stage and screen actress
• Kevin Dean (disambiguation), multiple people
• Letitia Dean (born 1967), English actress and singer
• Lynn Dean, Louisiana politician
• Mark Dean (swimmer), American swimmer
• Mike Dean (disambiguation), multiple people
• Nathan Dean (1934–2013), American businessman and politician
• Nathaniel Dean, Australian actor
• Nathaniel W. Dean (1817-1880), American politician
• Nelson Dean, American baseball player
• Norman Dean, footballer
• Pap Dean, political cartoonist
• Paul Dean (disambiguation), multiple people
• Ralph Dean (born 1913), Canadian Anglican cleric
• Reg Dean (1902–2013), British supercentenarian
• Roger Dean (artist), album cover designer
• Simon Dean, one of the stage names of Mike Bucci, World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler
• Thomas Dean (1920–2004), English cricketer
• Tony Dean (1932–2008), British racing driver
• Winton Dean (1916–2013), English musicologist

See also

• Dean (name)
• Dean (disambiguation)
• Deane (disambiguation)
• Melody Dean, fictional character in a song by the same name by Amanda Palmer on Theatre Is Evil