Tennyson
A surname usually understood as a patronymic form of Dennis or Denny, meaning “son of Denny/Dennis.”
The #8,060 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,121 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally explained as a patronymic built on Dennis, with Tenny- reflecting a historical sound change from D- to T- in some English surnames. Dennis itself comes through Old French from the medieval personal name Denis, ultimately from Greek Dionysios, “of Dionysus.” A few 19th-century writers also noted it could arise from feminine naming forms in some cases, but the main explanation is descent from Dennis/Denny.
History
Harrison explicitly glosses Tennyson as an unvoiced form of Dennison, and Bardsley likewise treats Tennyson as a T-for-D variant of Dennison. The surname is well established in northern England, especially in Yorkshire and nearby areas where such sound shifts are common in recorded surnames. The poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson made the name internationally familiar in the 19th century.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because of the D/T interchange found in some northern English surnames, Tennyson and Dennison can historically be related rather than separate family lines.
From the historical record
“TEN NY, an unvoiced form of Denny, q.v. TENNYSON, an unvoiced form of Dennison, q.v. TENPENNY for TImpany, q.v. TENTER (A.-Fr.-Lat.) i Minder, Watch- man, Herdsman [an aphzeresized form of 'attender'; f. Fr. attendre, to wait — Lat. attendere, to stretch to] Tenters : watchers of cattle or sheep on the moors. —…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)