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

Dorrance, 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 Dorrance surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dorrance in America

Dorrance is the 20201st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dorrance surname appeared 1,319 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 Dorrance.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dorrance 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 Dorrance

The surname Dorrance is derived from the Old French word "d'Orrance," which means "from Orrance." Orrance was a region in northern France, and the name is believed to have originated there during the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century.

The earliest known record of the name Dorrance can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, a census-like document from the late 13th century. This document mentions a person named William de Orrance, suggesting that the name was already in use at that time.

As the name spread throughout England and Scotland, it underwent various spelling variations, including Dorrans, Dorrance, Dorranc, and Dorren. Some of these variations were influenced by local dialects and pronunciation differences.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Dorrance was John Dorrance, who was born in Scotland in the late 15th century. He was a prominent merchant and landowner in the town of Kilwinning, Ayrshire.

Another notable figure was Sir Robert Dorrance, a Scottish lawyer and judge who lived in the 16th century. He served as a Lord of Session, one of the highest judicial positions in Scotland at the time.

In the 17th century, the Dorrance family established itself in Ireland, particularly in County Armagh. One of the most famous members of this branch was John Dorrance, born in 1645, who was a Presbyterian minister and a leader in the Scots-Irish community.

The name Dorrance also has a connection to the Campbell family, one of the most powerful clans in Scotland. In the 18th century, Archibald Campbell, the 3rd Duke of Argyll, married Mary Dorrance, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish landowner.

Another notable figure was John Dorrance, born in 1784, who was a pioneer in the American cheese industry. He founded the Dorrance & Company cheese factory in New York, which played a significant role in the development of the cheese-making industry in the United States.

As the name spread to various parts of the world, it continued to be associated with prominent individuals. For example, John Thompson Dorrance, born in 1873, was the inventor of condensed soup and the founder of the Campbell Soup Company, one of the largest food companies in the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dorrance

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

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

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

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