Find out how popular the last name Dobson is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Dobson.

Dobson, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Dobson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dobson in America

Dobson is the 1846th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dobson surname appeared 19,419 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Dobson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dobson to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Dobson

The surname Dobson is of English origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is a patronymic surname, meaning it originated as a name given to the son of someone named Dob or Dobber. These were common nicknames or diminutive forms of the name Robert in the Middle Ages.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname Dobson can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, England, from 1273. It appeared as 'Dobbessone' in this document. Over time, the spelling evolved to the modern form of Dobson.

The name is also closely associated with the historic county of Yorkshire in northern England. Many Dobson families lived in this region throughout the medieval and early modern periods. The Yorkshire Parish Records from the 16th and 17th centuries contain numerous references to individuals with the surname Dobson.

One notable historical figure with the name was William Dobson (1610-1646), an English portrait painter who was a contemporary of Anthony van Dyck. He painted portraits of many important figures of the English Civil War era, including King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell.

Another prominent Dobson was John Dobson (1787-1865), a renowned architect from the north-east of England. He designed several notable buildings in Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding area, including the Anglican cathedral and parts of Newcastle Central Station.

In the literary world, Susanna Dobson (1835-1895) was a notable 19th-century English poet and writer. She published several volumes of poetry and was known for her works depicting rural life and nature.

The Dobson surname also has connections to early American history. One of the first recorded instances was Thomas Dobson (c.1617-1689), who emigrated from England to Massachusetts in the 1630s and became a prominent merchant and landowner in the colony.

Another historically significant figure was James Dobson (1744-1808), an Irish-born American printer and publisher. He established one of the first publishing houses in Philadelphia and printed the first English-language edition of the Bible in the United States in 1808.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dobson

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Dobson.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Dobson was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Dobson has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Dobson was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dobson, please contact us.

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