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Denis & Paul-Denis
Family Name

Last updated Nov-2009
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Probable Origins & Usage

  • Unknown [Day]
  • a French name
  • Maliseet
  • moskwasó - he is muskrat (a nickname for Maliseet) [Day]
  • found as a family name and a personal name

Spellings & Alternate Names

  • Dennis
  • Deny
  • Denys
  • Dana
  • Paul-Denis
  • Mouscouoisseau (moskwasó)

Places Family is Found

  • Odanak - 1812 to 1900s
  • Durham
  • Viger - late 1700s to early 1900s
  • Penobscot / Passamaquoddy as Dana - early 1800s on

Earliest Occurrences of the Name

  • P. Dennis appears on the Odanak roster of 1812 veterans with heirs in 1844.
  • Sabatis Dana, b.abt.1819, is referred to as Passamaquoddy. His children are identified as Penobscot.
  • The children of Louis Denis, are found in records at Madawaska, NB and Kamouraska, Quebec between 1800 and 1820.
  • The family of Celestin Denis, b.abt.1804, is identified with the Viger Band of Maliseet.

Notes

A common family name appearing in many places and associated with several Wabanaki bands.

Paul, Pierre, and Pierre-Paul are very common given names in the Odanak family. Documents at Odanak from the 1880s claim the Odanak Denis family has Maliseet origins.

The family of Maurice Paul Denis were well known basket makers in upstate NY - late 1800s to early 1900s.

The origins of this name may go back to Richard Denys, a Frenchman that married a Wabanaki woman in the late 1600s in Acadia. His son, Nicholas, also married a Wabanaki woman. Early records are not complete enough to claim all Denis are his descendants, but it is a possibility.

Mouscouoisseau - Michel Mouscouoisseau and Jouachin Mouscouoisseau are listed in 1829-1830 at Odanak. Joachim Mouscoisseau Denis is listed at Odanak in 1832. Joachim Denis continues in Odanak census records for several decades. The 1900 census for one of his daughters shows father's place of birth as Maine. His descendants use the surname Denis.

Biographies, Photos, Artifacts, Genealogies, etc.

Learn More:
Odanak
Durham
Passamaquoddy
Penobscot
Viger Band
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