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    The surname Dove

    A patronymic surname, carried by 14,560 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /dʌv/ 1 syllable Soundex D100

    Dove: #2,475 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Dove #2,475, 14,560 people Dove: #2,475 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Dove #2,475, 14,560 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Dove is more common than 98.5% of them.

    Origin

    * 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.

    Dove 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 14,560 people named Dove in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 21,205 Americans. That is up 3.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 14,106.

    #2,475
    rank among US surnames
    14,560
    people in 2010
    4.9
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3.2%
    change since 2000 (was #2,351)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #2,466Knott14,62221,115
    #2,467Perales14,59321,157
    #2,469Mulligan14,59021,161
    #2,471Bliss14,58821,164
    #2,472Wakefield14,58721,166
    #2,473Kahn14,58421,170
    #2,474Barth14,57921,177

    Who is named Dove

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

    76% of people named Dove identified as white (not Hispanic), 18% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 76%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 18%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
    • Two or more races 1.9%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Doves

    5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • 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, born 1972
    • Ronnie Dove
      American musician, 1935–2026

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Dove

    Dove has the Soundex code D100, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D100.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Dove come from?
    * 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.
    How common is the surname Dove?
    14,560 people in the United States had the surname Dove in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 21,205 Americans. It ranked 2,475th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Dove?
    In the 2010 Census, 76% of people named Dove identified as white (not Hispanic), and 18% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Dove?
    Rita Dove, American poet, essayist, and university teacher (born 1952), followed by Arthur Dove.
    Where is the surname Dove most common?
    Wikidata records people named Dove in the United States.
    How do you pronounce Dove?
    Dove is /dʌv/, one syllable.
    What type of surname is Dove?
    Dove is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Dove getting more or less common?
    More common. 14,106 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,560 in 2010, up 3.2%.