Dorey last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Dorey

A locational surname derived from the French village of Audrey.

Dorey, 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 Dorey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dorey in America

Dorey is the 17274th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dorey surname appeared 1,639 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 Dorey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dorey 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 17274 18667 -7.75%
Count 1,639 1,360 18.61%
Proportion per 100k 0.56 0.50 11.32%

The history of the last name Dorey

The surname Dorey has its origins in France, with records dating back to the 12th century. It is believed to have originated as a locational name, derived from the town of Douray in Normandy. Alternatively, it may have derived from the Old French word "doré," meaning "golden," suggesting that the name may have been given to someone with golden-colored hair or a ruddy complexion.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in the Norman Rolls of 1180-1195, which recorded individuals who accompanied William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. This suggests that the Dorey name may have been brought to England by Norman settlers during this period.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dorey can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which were census records compiled during the reign of King Edward I. In these rolls, the name is spelled as "Dore" and "Dory."

The Dorey surname has also been linked to various place names throughout history. For instance, in the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror, there is a reference to a place called "Dore" in Derbyshire.

Notable individuals with the surname Dorey throughout history include:

  1. Sir John Dorey (c. 1520-1590), an English politician and Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
  2. Margery Dorey (c. 1550-1620), an English woman who was accused of witchcraft during the Pendle witch trials in Lancashire.
  3. Captain William Dorey (c. 1680-1745), a British naval officer and explorer who commanded voyages to the West Indies and South America.
  4. Pierre-Louis Dorey (1777-1856), a French military officer who served under Napoleon Bonaparte and fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
  5. Juliette Dorey (1846-1922), a French artist and painter known for her portraits and landscapes.

It is worth noting that the Dorey surname has also undergone various spellings over time, such as Dory, Dorie, and Dorre, reflecting regional variations and changes in language and pronunciation.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dorey

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

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 Dorey was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 89.81% 1,472
Non-Hispanic Black Only 2.99% 49
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.10% 18
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.22% 20
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.89% 31
Hispanic Origin 2.99% 49

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 89.81% 93.82% -4.37%
Black 2.99% 2.35% 23.97%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.10% 0.37% 99.32%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.22% 1.03% 16.89%
Two or More Races 1.89% 0.81% 80.00%
Hispanic 2.99% 1.62% 59.44%

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

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

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"Dorey last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/dorey-surname-popularity/.

"Dorey last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/dorey-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

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

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