Dorcent last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Dorcent

A surname derived from the French placename Dorlisheim.

Dorcent, 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 Dorcent surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dorcent in America

Dorcent is the 98553rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dorcent surname appeared 184 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Dorcent.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dorcent 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 98553 134929 -31.16%
Count 184 115 46.15%
Proportion per 100k 0.06 0.04 40.00%

The history of the last name Dorcent

The surname DORCENT is believed to have originated in France during the late medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the old French word "dorchent," which referred to a type of fine cloth or fabric. This suggests that the name may have initially been an occupational surname, given to those who worked with or traded in this particular material.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the DORCENT name can be found in the tax records of the city of Toulouse in the year 1387, where a certain Pierre Dorcent is listed as a cloth merchant. This provides evidence that the name was already established in the region by the late 14th century.

By the 16th century, the name had spread to other parts of France, as evidenced by the birth of Jean Dorcent in the town of Béziers in 1523. It is believed that Jean was a member of the local gentry, indicating that the DORCENT name had gained some status and prominence by this time.

In the 17th century, the DORCENT name made its way across the English Channel, with a family of that name settling in the city of London. One notable figure from this period was William Dorcent, a successful merchant who was born in 1642 and served as a member of the city's governing council.

The 18th century saw the DORCENT name appear in various historical records across Europe. In 1712, a man named Jacques Dorcent was listed as a member of the French Royal Academy of Sciences, suggesting that the name had become associated with academic and intellectual pursuits.

As the centuries passed, the DORCENT name continued to spread and evolve. In the 19th century, a prominent figure was the French artist and sculptor, Louis-Pierre Dorcent, who was born in 1805 and is known for his works depicting scenes from classical mythology.

Another notable individual was the Swiss explorer and adventurer, Henri Dorcent, who was born in 1842 and is famous for his expeditions to the Arctic regions in the late 1800s.

Finally, in the early 20th century, the DORCENT name gained literary recognition with the French novelist and playwright, Simone Dorcent, who was born in 1901 and whose works explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dorcent

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

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 Dorcent was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic Black Only 97.83% 180
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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 Dorcent has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Black 97.83% 86.96% 11.76%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% 0.00% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Two or More Races (S)% 7.83% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% 5.22% (S)%

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Dorcent last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/dorcent-surname-popularity/.

"Dorcent last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/dorcent-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Dorcent last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/dorcent-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.