Dees
Usually a variant of the Irish surname Dease, ultimately tied to the historic people of Desies/Deise in southeastern Ireland.
The #3,299 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,359 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dees is best understood as a spelling variant of Dease, an Irish surname linked by older writers to the Deisigh or Desii, the people whose name is preserved in the Irish territory of Deise. In that tradition, the surname is regional or ethnic rather than occupational: it points back to an ancient group name from Waterford and nearby areas. Some 19th-century sources also mention a possible French or English-looking form, but the Irish explanation is the one most often given for this family name.
History
Older genealogical and etymological writers commonly treated Dees as a shortened or variant spelling of Dease. The name is associated especially with Ireland, and the Dease family is often discussed in connection with the historical territory of the Deise. In modern English-language records, Dees can also appear as an independent surname spelling, especially in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century source explicitly notes that Dees/Dease is an Irish name linked to the old tribal territory of the Deise.
From the historical record
“deum, ace. of deus ; but the classical form of the oath was plural— ^er dees'] John Purilieu.— Rolls of Pari. He is a kynges brother sone, pardee.—”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)