# Dove (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 14,560 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,475 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 21,205 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.2% (14,106 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /dʌv/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, from the noun dove. * As a Scottish surname, calque of Scottish Gaelic (mac) Calmáin (“(son of the) dove”). Compare Coleman. * Also as a Scottish surname, variant of Duff. * As a north German surname, from the Low German adjective doof (“deaf”); see deaf.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Dove 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) | 76% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 18% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Dove in the United States.

## People named Dove

- Rita Dove, American poet, essayist, and university teacher (born 1952)
- Arthur Dove, American painter (1880-1946)
- Billie Dove, American silent film actress; aviator (1903–1997)
- Sydney Kamlager-Dove, American politician
- Ronnie Dove, American musician

## Similar surnames

Dave, Duffy, Duff, Dube, Davey, Duffey, Diep, Devoe, Depew, Dupuy, Davy, Davie.

## 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.