Dupree
A French surname meaning “of the meadow.”
The #2,161 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,384 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dupree is a French surname built from the preposition du, meaning “of the,” plus a word for “meadow” or “field.” The name is therefore locational in sense: it originally referred to someone associated with a meadow. Older English-language surname books also note it alongside French forms such as Dupre/Dupré, and treat it as a relatively recent French import into English use.
History
The surname is found in French and French-derived family names, and in English-speaking countries it often reflects later immigration or anglicized spelling. U.S. usage is now established, with variants such as Dupre and Duprée also appearing. Historical surname writers occasionally grouped it with other Du- names meaning features of the landscape, especially meadow names.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers glossed it neatly as the French equivalent of an English place-name surname like Mead.
From the historical record
“chesne and Ducane, ' of the oak,' (our Noakes); Dufour ' of the oven ;' Dufort 'of the fort;' Dupree, Duprej', {pre) 'of the meadow,' (our Mead); Dupuy ' of the well,' (our Wells); Duvall, Duval, 'of the valley,' (our Dale) ; and many others. Dubbe, an A-Sax. personal”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom