Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • English and Scottish : from the Middle English personal name Dodde, Dudde, Old English Dodda, Dudda, which remained in fairly widespread and frequent use in England until the 14th century. It seems to have been originally a byname, but the meaning is not clear; it may come from a Germanic root used to describe something round and lumpish—hence a short, plump man.
  • Irish : of English origin, taken to Sligo in the 16th century by a Shropshire family; also sometimes adopted by bearers of the Gaelic name Ó Dubhda (see Dowd).
  • Daniel and Mary Dod, natives of England, emigrated to Branford, CT, in about 1645.

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