Dente History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Anglo-Saxon name Dente comes from when the family resided in the places named Dent in Cumberland and West Yorkshire. Dente is a local surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. There are a variety of types of local surnames, some of which include: topographic surnames, which could be given to a person who lived beside any physical feature, such as a hill, stream, church or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. The surname Dente comes from a British hill name, which is cognate with the Old Irish words dinn or dind, which mean hill. The earliest records of the surname Dente found bearers of the name to be in Yorkshire, on the border of Westmorland (now part of Cumbria).

Early Origins of the Dente family

The surname Dente was first found in West Riding of Yorkshire (now Cumbria) at Dent, a village and civil parish in the parish of Sedbergh, in Dentdale, a narrow valley on the western slopes of the Pennines. 1

The origin of the place name is uncertain; it may have been a river name, but was first recorded as Denet c. 1202. 2

Thomas de Dent ( Dyvelyn, Denton, or Dublin) (died after 1361) was an English-born cleric and judge who held high office in Ireland during the reign of King Edward III. He was born at Dent, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was sometimes known as "Thomas Dyvelyn," or "Thomas of Dublin", or as Thomas Denton.

Early History of the Dente family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dente research. Another 144 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1131, 1571, 1575, 1576, 1579, 1580, 1584, 1607, 1630, 1676, 1680 and 1689 are included under the topic Early Dente History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dente Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Dente has been recorded under many different variations, including Dent, Dente, Dentt, Dentte and others.

Early Notables of the Dente family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Col. Thomas Dent, Sr., (1630-1676), Justice, Sheriff, and member of the Lower House of the Maryland General Assembly.Arthur Dent (d. 1607), was an English Puritan divine, matriculated as a pensioner of Christ's College, Cambridge, in November 1571, graduated B.A. in 1575-1576, M.A. in 1579, and was on 17 Dec. 1580 instituted to the rectory of South Shoebury, Essex. "About 1584 he was much troubled by Aylmer, his diocesan, for refusing to wear the surplice and omitting the sign of the cross in baptism. His name is appended to the petition sent to the...
Another 115 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dente Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Dente family

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Dente or a variant listed above: Rich and Jo Dent who were banished to Barbados in 1635; and later transferred to the mainland. Eliza Dent settled in Virginia in 1643; Francis Dent settled in Salem Massachusetts in 1630.

The Dente Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Concordia et industria
Motto Translation: By concord and industry.

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)