Dorr
A surname with several possible roots, most often explained as a nickname or locative name, and sometimes linked to a “spear” word in Old Norse.
The #5,928 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 53,104 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Dorr is etymologically ambiguous in the older literature. One line of explanation connects it with a Dutch or Germanic source, while another treats it as a Gaelic nickname word meaning something like “difficult,” “hard to manage,” or “easily vexed.” Arthur also records an Old Norse possibility from dorr, “spear,” and other speculative links from Cornish British and Welsh words, so the name may have arisen independently in more than one language. In some cases it may also be a shortened or altered form of a longer local surname.
History
The name appears in English and American records in several related forms, including Dore, Dorrell, and Dorrington, which supports the idea that some examples are shortened or variant spellings rather than a single source. Nineteenth-century surname writers treated it as a name of mixed or uncertain origin, and later works occasionally connect it with spear-related place-name elements. In modern usage it is uncommon but established in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source lists at least six different possible meanings for Dorr, a good example of how slippery surname origins can be.
From the historical record
“DORN. (Dutch.) A thorn-tree. DORR. This name may have several significations, according to the language in which it was first given. Dorr, Gaelic, difficult, easily vexed. Dur, Gaelic, persevering, earnest, obstinate. Dorr, Icelandic, a spear. Dor, Cor. British, the earth; also dorre, to break. Doir, local, a woody…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names