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Dent Family History

Dent Name Meaning

English: habitational name from places in Cumbria and West Yorkshire named Dent, possibly from a British hill name cognate with Old Irish dinn, dind ‘hill’. English and French: nickname from Old French dent ‘tooth’ (Latin dens, genitive dentis), bestowed on someone with some deficiency or peculiarity of the teeth, or of a gluttonous or avaricious nature.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press


Similar surnames: Dente, Gent, Pont, Kent, Denz, Dant, Bent, Denny, West, Denk

Search for a relative to learn more about your family history.

Hint: Try searching for a relative alive in 1940.

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Where is the Dent family from?

You can see how Dent families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Dent family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Dent families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1891 there were 1,218 Dent families living in Yorkshire. This was about 20% of all the recorded Dent's in United Kingdom. Yorkshire had the highest population of Dent families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Dent surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Dent ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, General Labourer and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Dent. 8% of Dent men worked as a General Labourer and 68% of Dent women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. Some less common occupations for Americans named Dent were Incapacitated and Domestic Duties. .

View Census Data for Dent | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • General Labourer
    8%
  • Farmer
    5%
  • Dairy Farmer
    5%
  • Incapacitated
    3%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    68%
  • Unpaid Domestic
    2%
  • Housewife
    2%
  • Domestic Duties
    2%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Dent family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 189,000 census records available for the last name Dent. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Dent census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Dent

Passenger Lists

There are 14,000 immigration records available for the last name Dent. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Dent immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 44,000 military records available for the last name Dent. For the veterans among your Dent ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Dent lifespan?

Between 1941 and 2004, in the United States, Dent life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1950, and highest in 2000. The average life expectancy for Dent in 1941 was 42, and 69 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Dent

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