The Greek name Dionysius (/ˌdaɪəˈnɪʃiəs, -ˈnɪs-, -ˈnɪʃəs, -ˈnaɪsiəs/), deriving from the name of the Greek god Dionysus, was exceedingly common, and many ancient people, famous and otherwise, bore it. It remains a common name today in the form Dennis (Denys, Denis, Denise). The modern Greek form of the name is Dionysios or Dionysis. The Spanish form of the name is Dionisio. The Italian form of the name is Dionigi. The Italian last name, Dionisi is also derived from the name Dionysius, and Dionysus. Dionysius was the episcopal title of the primates of Malankara Church (founded by Apostle Thomas in India) from 1765 until amalgamating that title with the Catholicos of the East in 1934.
Dionysius as Debernus also among the seven sleepers on cave after Decius.
Among the persons known by the name Dionysius, or using the French version Denis, some of the more famous were:
Ancient Greece and Rome
Dionysius I of Syracuse (c. 432 – 367 BC), also called Dionysius the Elder, ruler of Syracuse in Sicily
Dionysius II of Syracuse (c. 397 BC – 343 BC), also called Dionysius the Younger, son of the preceding
Dionysius of Phocaea, commander of the Ionian fleet at the Battle of Lade, 494 BC
Dionysius Chalcus, Athenian elegiac poet, 5th century BC
Dionysius of Heraclea, tyrant of Heraclea Pontica, 4th century BC
Dionysius (Athenian Commander), an Athenian naval commander during the Corinthian War
Dionysius the Renegade, Stoic philosopher from Heraclea who became a Cyrenaic, c. 300 BC
Dionysius (ambassador), 3rd century BC, ambassador to the court of the Indian ruler Ashoka
Dionysius of Lamptrai, 3rd century BC, an Epicurean philosopher and head of the "Garden"
Dionysius Thrax, Greek grammarian, 2nd century BC
Dionysius of Cyrene, Stoic philosopher and mathematician, c. 150 BC
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (c. 60 BC – after 7 BC), Greek historian of the Roman period
Aelius Dionysius, a Greek rhetorician from Halicarnassus (fl. early 2nd century)
Dionysius Periegetes, Greek geographer, 2nd or 3rd century
Christian saints, monks and bishops
Dionysius the Areopagite, Athenian judge who was converted by Paul of Tarsus and became Bishop of Athens
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (5th century), name claimed by a pseudonymous writer, identified by some with Georgian theologian Peter the Iberian (411–491), author of Corpus Areopagiticum
Dionysius, a lector and martyr of Alexandria - see Faustus, Abibus and Dionysius of Alexandria
Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, 2nd-century bishop
Saint Dionysius of Alexandria, 3rd-century Egyptian bishop
Dionysius, 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint, noted in Theodore, Philippa, and Companions
Saint Denis, Bishop of Paris, martyr (died ca. 250)
Pope Dionysius, 259–268
Dionysius (bishop of Milan), also called Dionysius of Milan, bishop of Milan 349-355, saint
Dionysius Exiguus (c. 470–c. 540), monk from Scythia Minor who invented the Anno Domini era
Dionysius Telmaharensis (d. 848), former head of the Syrian Jacobite Church
Jacob Bar-Salibi also known as Dionysius Bar-salibi, member of Syrian Jacobite Church in the 12th century, best known for his commentary on biblical texts
Dionysius I, Metropolitan of Moscow (c. 1300–1385), 14th century orthodox prelate
Saint Dionysios of Zakynthos, 15th century Orthodox Christian Archbishop of Aegina
Dionisius (late 15th century–early 16th century), also called Dionysius the Wise, Russian medieval icon-painter
Denis the Carthusian (1402–1471)
Patriarch Dionysius I of Constantinople, Saint, reigned from 1466 to 1471 and from 1488 to 1490
Patriarch Dionysius II of Constantinople, reigned from 1546 to 1556
Dionysius the Philosopher (1560 AD–1611 AD), Epirotian Greek monk who led two farmer revolts against the Ottoman Turks
Mar Dionysius I (died 1808), also known as Mar Dionysius the Great or Marthoma VI, Metropolitan of the Malankara Church (in India).
Dionysius Geevarghese (1858-1934), also known as Mar Dionysius VI, Metropolitan of Malankara Church (in India), Saint.
Benjamin Musaphia (1606–1675), Jewish doctor, scholar, and kabbalist, who sometimes called himself Dionysius
Dionysius Lardner (1793–1859), Irish scientific writer
Dionysios Demetis, Greek composer
Dionyssis Diakos, Greek revolutionary leader in the Greek War of Independence
Dionysios Iliadis, Greek judoka
Dionysios Kasdaglis, Greek-Egyptian tennis player
Dionysis Makris, Greek singer
Dionysis Papagiannopoulos, Greek actor
Dionysis Savvopoulos, Greek songwriter, lyricist and singer
Dionysios Solomos (1798–1857), Greek poet
