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

Doby, 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 Doby surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Doby in America

Doby is the 12238th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Doby surname appeared 2,542 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Doby.

We can also compare 2010 data for Doby 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 Doby

The surname Doby originated in England during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word 'dob', meaning a small pit or hollow. The name was likely first adopted by someone living near such a geographic feature.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Doby appears in the Feet of Fines for Yorkshire in 1365, where a Robert Doby is mentioned. The Feet of Fines were records of land transactions in medieval England.

In the 16th century, the name Doby was found in various parts of England, including Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire. The Lincolnshire parish records from 1564 list a baptism for a John Doby.

A notable early bearer of the surname was Richard Doby, a merchant and alderman in the city of York in the late 16th century. He served as Lord Mayor of York in 1593.

The Doby surname is also associated with the village of Dobbies in Northumberland. This place name, recorded as 'Dobbes' in 1242, likely shares the same etymological root as the surname.

In the 17th century, a Thomas Doby (1624-1670) was a prominent English divine and author, serving as the Archdeacon of Rochester and writing several religious works.

Another notable figure was Sir Samuel Doby (1652-1716), a wealthy English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1708.

During the 18th century, the Doby family had a presence in Virginia, with John Doby (1730-1805) being a prominent planter and landowner in Culpeper County.

In the 19th century, the name Doby was found in various parts of England, including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Northumberland. A notable bearer was George Doby (1808-1888), a successful businessman and philanthropist in Hull.

The surname Doby has also been recorded in different spellings over time, such as Dobbie, Dobey, and Dobey, reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Doby

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

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 Doby 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 Doby 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 Doby was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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