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

Dorman, 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 Dorman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dorman in America

Dorman is the 3053rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dorman surname appeared 11,739 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Dorman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dorman 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 Dorman

The surname DORMAN is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "dor" meaning door and "mann" meaning man, thus referring to the occupation of a doorkeeper or gatekeeper. It likely emerged during the medieval period in England, around the 12th or 13th century.

The name was most prevalent in the counties of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire, where many early records of the surname can be found. Variations in spelling include Dorman, Doreman, Dorrman, and Dorreman.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Hundred Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1275, which mentions a Richard Dorreman. The Subsidy Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1327 also list a John Dorman.

In the 14th century, a notable bearer of the name was William Dorman, a prominent merchant and landowner from Bristol, who was recorded in various legal documents and property records between 1360 and 1390.

The Dorman surname also appears in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. However, the specific individuals mentioned are not clearly identified.

During the 16th century, a prominent figure was John Dorman (c. 1510 - c. 1580), an English Catholic priest and theologian who fled to Flanders during the Reformation and wrote several treatises defending the Catholic faith.

In the 17th century, Thomas Dorman (1618 - 1688) was a renowned English Puritan minister and author, known for his book "The Revived Doctrines of the Protestant Religion."

Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Robert Dorman (1650 - 1726), a wealthy English merchant and landowner who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1707.

In the 19th century, Ebenezer Dorman (1809 - 1880) was an American engineer and inventor who contributed to the development of early typewriters and mechanical calculators.

These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the surname DORMAN, which has its roots in the medieval English occupation of doorkeepers and gatekeepers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dorman

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dorman, 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!