Denis Family Heritage 1495-2012

A Denis Family Story

By Robert Denis

In Memory and Appreciation for

Pete Denis Jan 1920 - Mar 2006

The History of the Denis name.

The name Denis comes from the French Saint Denis, but has many derivatives thereof. Saint Denis of France; a Christian Saint, a Patron Saint of Paris.  According to Christian tradition, Saint Denis (also called Dionysius, Dennis, or Denys) is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians by the Emperor Decius, shortly after 250 AD. After his head was chopped off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked ten kilometers (six miles), preaching a sermon the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores, (from the Greek for "head-carrier") is a saint who is generally depicted carrying his or her own head in Greek hagiology. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as patron of Paris, France, and as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The medieval and modern French name "Denis" derives from the ancient name Dionysius. The Graeco-Roman, or Greco-Roman name Dionysius, deriving from the name of the Greek god Dionysus, was exceedingly common, and many ancient people, famous and otherwise, bore it. It remains a common name today in the form Dennis (Denys, Denis, Denise). The Modern Greek form of the name is Dionysios or Dionysis; “Follower of the god Dionysius”. The Spanish form of the name is Dionisio. The Italian form of the name is Dionigi. The Italian last name, Dionisi is also derived from the name Dionysius, and Dionysus.

Dennis or Denis is either the first or last name of a male derived from the Grec