From the Middle English word; “dene” it means someone dwelling in a valley. It is also the name for the servant of a dean or nickname for someone thought to resemble a dean.
Various spellings are Deane, Deans and Deanes.

In the 1880s members of the Dean family were mostly farmers.

The counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire in England had the highest number of individuals with the Dean surname. In the United States, Dean family members are in New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois and Ohio.

Famous: Christopher Dean (British figure skater), Dizzy Dean (professional baseball player), James Dean (actor), Pap Dean (political cartoonist), Simon Dean (World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler), Mark Dean (swimmer) and Paul Dean (Canadian guitarist).