Dockery
A surname most likely from a place-name, probably referring to someone from Dockwray in Cumberland.
The #3,089 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,515 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dockery is generally explained as a locational surname. Bardsley links Dockery and its close spellings to Dockwray, a hamlet in Matterdale, Cumberland, with the ending -wray seen in other northern English place-names. The first element is less certain, but the surname as a whole would originally have meant someone who came from or lived near that place.
History
The surname appears in several spelling forms, including Dockrey, Dockry, and Dockrall, which reflects normal variation in older records. It is found in English and Irish surname lists, and in modern times it is best known in English-speaking countries, especially the United States. The Irish-looking spellings may reflect later adaptation or separate local developments rather than one single origin for every bearer.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley explicitly groups Dockery with Docwra and Dockray as related spellings tied to the same northern place-name cluster.
From the historical record
“Dookreay,Dookree,Docwra, Dookray, Dockery, Dookrey. —Local, *of Dockwray,' a hamlet in Matterdale, co. Cumb. As regards the suflSx -wray, v. Wray, and cf. Thackeray.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)