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    The surname Dobson

    A patronymic surname, carried by 19,419 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈdɑb.sən/ 2 syllables Soundex D125

    Dobson: #1,846 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Dobson #1,846, 19,419 people Dobson: #1,846 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Dobson #1,846, 19,419 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Dobson is more common than 98.9% of them.

    Origin

    From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Robert + -son.

    Dobson is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 19,419 people named Dobson in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 15,899 Americans. That is up 5.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 18,342.

    #1,846
    rank among US surnames
    19,419
    people in 2010
    6.6
    per 100,000 Americans
    +5.9%
    change since 2000 (was #1,798)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #1,837Gaston19,50215,831
    #1,838Goodrich19,48715,844
    #1,839Prater19,48415,846
    #1,840Burger19,48015,849
    #1,841Toledo19,47415,854
    #1,842Lovett19,47115,857
    #1,843Gipson19,47015,858

    Who is named Dobson

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    77% of people named Dobson identified as white (not Hispanic), 17% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 77%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 17%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Two or more races 2.1%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Dobsons

    9 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • John Dobson
      American amateur astronomer (1915–2014)
    • Kevin Dobson
      American film and television actor (1943-2020)
    • Tamara Dobson
      American actress and model (1944–2006)
    • James Dobson
      American Evangelical Christian psychologist, author, and radio broadcaster (1936–2025)
    • Anita Dobson
      British actress and singer, born 1949
    • Chris Dobson
      British chemist (1949-2019)
    • Peter Dobson
      American actor, born 1964
    • Frank Dobson
      British artist (1886–1963)
    • Dominic Dobson
      American racing driver, born 1957

    Notable Dobsons come mostly from the United States (6), the United Kingdom (2) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Dobson

    Dobson has the Soundex code D125, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D125.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Dobson come from?
    From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Robert + -son.
    How common is the surname Dobson?
    19,419 people in the United States had the surname Dobson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 15,899 Americans. It ranked 1,846th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Dobson?
    In the 2010 Census, 77% of people named Dobson identified as white (not Hispanic), and 17% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Dobson?
    John Dobson, American amateur astronomer (1915–2014), followed by Kevin Dobson.
    Where is the surname Dobson most common?
    Wikidata records people named Dobson in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
    How do you pronounce Dobson?
    Dobson is /ˈdɑb.sən/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Dobson?
    Dobson is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Dobson getting more or less common?
    More common. 18,342 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 19,419 in 2010, up 5.9%.