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

DuBose, 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 DuBose surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of DuBose in America

DuBose is the 2748th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The DuBose surname appeared 13,120 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 DuBose.

We can also compare 2010 data for DuBose 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 DuBose

The surname DUBOSE has its origins in France and is believed to have emerged during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is derived from the Old French words "du bois," which translate to "of the woods" or "from the woods." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near or in a forested area.

One of the earliest known records of the name DUBOSE can be found in the Gascon region of southwestern France, where it appears in various historical documents dating back to the 1300s. The name was often spelled differently in these early records, with variations such as "du Bois," "du Boys," and "du Bosc" being quite common.

As the centuries passed, the name DUBOSE spread to other parts of France and eventually made its way to other countries, including England and the United States. One notable early bearer of the name was Jean du Bois, a French philosopher and logician who lived from 1492 to 1570.

In England, the DUBOSE name appears to have first emerged in the late 16th or early 17th century, likely brought over by French immigrants or Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in England can be found in the parish records of St. Giles Cripplegate in London, where a Thomas Dubose was christened in 1616.

Among the notable individuals with the DUBOSE surname throughout history are:

1. Claudine du Bois (1554-1629), a French artist and poet known for her portraits of French nobility.
2. Peter DuBois (1759-1818), an American Revolutionary War soldier and politician who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress.
3. William E. B. DuBois (1810-1881), an American author and educator who served as the first president of Huguenot College in South Carolina.
4. William Edward Burghardt DuBois (1868-1963), a renowned African American sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist who co-founded the NAACP.
5. Dorothy DuBose Heyward (1890-1964), an American novelist and playwright best known for her novel "Porgy," which later inspired the opera "Porgy and Bess."

While the DUBOSE name has undergone various spelling changes over the centuries and has been adopted by individuals in different countries, its roots can be traced back to the forested regions of medieval France, where it likely originated as a descriptive surname for those living near or among the woods.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name DuBose

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

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

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