# Dobbs (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/dobbs/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 18,476 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,956 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 16,711 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.5% (18,021 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Robert + the patronymic suffix -s.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Dobbs in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 82% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 12% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Dobbs in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Dobbs

- Lou Dobbs, American conservative political commentator (1945–2024)
- Michael Dobbs, British conservative politician and author (born 1948)
- Farrell Dobbs, American labour organizer, left-wing politician, historian (1907-1983)
- Greg Dobbs, American baseball player

## Similar surnames

Dabbs, Dubbs, Dobos, Davis, Davies, Dubois, DuBose, Dupuis, Depaz, Daves, Defazio, DeBose.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.