2000
#134,929
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Doers
Derived from the Middle English term "doer," meaning a person who accomplishes or performs actions.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Doers. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Doers surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Doers in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Doers, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) and Black (7.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Doers
The surname DOERS is of English origin, having its roots in the late medieval period of the 13th to 15th centuries. The name is believed to have derived from the Old English word "doer," which referred to a person who performed actions or deeds. It may have originated as a descriptive surname or nickname for an active, industrious individual or perhaps a craftsman or tradesman of some kind.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname DOERS can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex, dated 1327, where a certain John Doer is mentioned. Another early reference appears in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire from the year 1379, which lists a Robert Doer among the tenants.
In the 15th century, the surname DOERS is recorded in the Paston Letters, a collection of correspondence from the influential Paston family of Norfolk. One of the letters, dated 1458, mentions a Richard Doers who was involved in a legal dispute over land ownership.
The DOERS surname is also found in various parish records and church registers from the 16th century onwards. For instance, in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, the baptism of a child named John Doers is recorded in 1573.
Notable individuals bearing the surname DOERS throughout history include:
1. William Doers (c. 1620-1685), an English merchant and ship owner who traded extensively with the American colonies.
2. Sarah Doers (1687-1742), a Quaker minister from Wiltshire, known for her extensive travels and writings on religious topics.
3. John Doers (1734-1805), a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War and later became an admiral in the Royal Navy.
4. Mary Ann Doers (1795-1868), an English author and poet, best known for her romantic poetry and novels set in the Regency era.
5. Thomas Doers (1817-1892), a prominent industrialist and philanthropist from Manchester, who made significant contributions to the development of the city's textile industry.
The surname DOERS has also been associated with various place names and locations throughout England, such as Doers Hill in Derbyshire and Doers Farm in Somerset, which may have been named after early settlers or landowners with this surname.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Doers
Among Census respondents with the surname Doers, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) and Black (7.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Doers bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Doers surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.3% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 9
- Black or African American7.0% · 8
- Two or more races1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Doers
Doers appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#144,141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,212 places
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 2,354 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #134,929 | 115 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #144,141 | 115 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 9,212 places |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Down 2,354 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Doers surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #144,141 | #146,495 | -1.6% |
| Count | 115 | 114 | -0.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Doers bearers went from 115 to 114 (-0.9% change). The surname moved down 2,354 positions in the national ranking, going from #144,141 to #146,495.
FAQ
Doers surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Doers?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Doers. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Doers?
Doers ranks #146,495 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 114 people with the surname Doers. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Doers.
Has Doers become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Doers went from 115 recorded bearers to 114. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #144,141 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Doers?
Among Census respondents with the surname Doers, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) and Black (7.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Doers in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Doers appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.3%), Hispanic (7.9%), Black (7.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Doers (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Doers mean?
Derived from the Middle English term "doer," meaning a person who accomplishes or performs actions. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Doers (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Doers?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Doers is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.