Show ContentsDendy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Dendy is rooted in the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. It was a name for someone who was a male, where it was originally used as a pet form of Andrew. 1 Essentially the surname Dendy originally derived from the Old Scottish name Andrew.

Early Origins of the Dendy family

The surname Dendy was first found in Surrey in the parish of Leigh, where the Dendy family held estates and made sizable donations to the local church. 2 The first record of the family was Dandi (without surname) who was listed in Lincolnshire in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1271-1273. The same rolls list Richard Dande in Huntingdonshire. Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Willelmus Dandy, et uxor ejus and the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire listed Thomas Dandisone in 1332. 3 Adam Dandy was listed in the Register of Freeman of Yorkshire in 1312. 1

The name may also be from Dand, Dandy, familiarly used in Scotland for Andrew. Comparing the Scottish records to the English ones, we can see that the Scottish ones were more recent and in many cases the name appears as a forename, not a surname. "Andrew Kerr, son of the eighth lord of Ferniehurst, who died in 1499, was generally known as 'Dand Kerr.' Dand was common as a Christian name in the south of Scotland in the sixteenth century, and in the list of tenants under the Abbey of Kelso in 1567 we find Dand Howy, Dand Glernet, Dand Lermont, Dand Craige, Dand Stobe, etc." 4

Early History of the Dendy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dendy research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1613, 1674, 1806, 1819 and 1831 are included under the topic Early Dendy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dendy Spelling Variations

Dendy has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Many variations of the name Dendy have been found, including Dandie, Dandy, Dande, Dando and others.

Early Notables of the Dendy family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

  • Kerr Dand, son of the eighth Lord of Ferniehurst; and Edward Dendy (bap. 1613-1674), English Serjeant-at-Arms in the Long Parliament and for the Rump during the trial of Charles I, convicted regicide...

Dendy Ranking

In the United States, the name Dendy is the 7,416th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 5


United States Dendy migration to the United States +

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Dendys to arrive on North American shores:

Dendy Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • John Dendy, who arrived in Virginia in 1653 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Dendy (post 1700) +

  • Walter Cooper Dendy (1794-1871), British surgeon, born in 1794 at or near Horsham in Sussex 7
  • Mr. Ronald John Robert Dendy, British Commander, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse and survived the sinking

HMS Repulse
  • Mr. Ronald John Robert Dendy, (), British Commander, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and survived the sinking 8


  1. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  3. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  4. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  5. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  6. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  7. Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020
  8. HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook