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Dowd Family History

Dowd Surname Meaning

Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Dubhda ‘descendant of Dubhda’ a byname derived from dubh ‘dark black’. The family were chieftains in Sligo and Mayo. The surname in northern England seems to have come from the Isle of Man.

English: from the Middle English personal name Doude perhaps a side-form of either Dodde (see Dodd and compare Dowding) or of Daude a pet form of Ralph (see Dawson and Dowson).

A nickname from Middle English doude ‘shabby unattractive woman’ is formally also possible but seems unlikely to have become a hereditary surname.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Dowd family from?

You can see how Dowd families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Dowd family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Dowd families were found in USA in 1880. In 1891 there were 463 Dowd families living in Lancashire. This was about 47% of all the recorded Dowd's in United Kingdom. Lancashire had the highest population of Dowd families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Dowd surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Dowd ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, General Labourer and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Dowd. 31% of Dowd men worked as a General Labourer and 73% of Dowd women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. Some less common occupations for Americans named Dowd were General Labourer Heavy Worker and Domestic Servant.

View Census Data for Dowd | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • General Labourer
    31%
  • Builders Labourer
    21%
  • Incapacitated
    5%
  • General Labourer Heavy Worker
    4%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    73%
  • Incapacitated
    3%
  • Unpaid Domestic
    3%
  • Domestic Servant
    3%

What Dowd family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 101,000 census records available for the last name Dowd. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Dowd census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Dowd

Passenger Lists

There are 18,000 immigration records available for the last name Dowd. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Dowd immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 19,000 military records available for the last name Dowd. For the veterans among your Dowd ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Dowd military records

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