Doe
An English surname originally from the animal name “doe,” the female deer.
The #4,972 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,695 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from the word for a doe, the female of the deer. Old English had dā, and Middle English forms like doe and do show the same animal name. It was likely first used as a nickname or sign-name for someone thought to resemble the animal, or perhaps for a family associated with deer imagery or a house sign.
History
Historical records show medieval forms such as John le Doe, suggesting the name was already in use in England by the 13th and 14th centuries. Later writers also noted its connection with heraldic and legal uses of “Doe and Roe,” which helped keep the name familiar in English-speaking countries. The surname is established in Britain and later appears in the United States, where it remains uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The legal placeholders “John Doe” and “Richard Roe” were explicitly linked by 19th-century surname writers to real English surnames rather than invented names.
From the historical record
“in Yorkshire. DOE. From the animal, like Hart, Buck, Roe, &c. Those mythical ' parties' to so many legal proceedings. " JonN Doe and Richard Roe," are evidently of fo- rest extraction, aud point to the days when forest laws prevailed and venison was a sa- cred thing. In H.R. there is a John le Doe. DOGGETT. An old…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom