Duce Family History

English: variant of Dowse a nickname from Middle English douce dowce ‘sweet pleasant’ (Old French dolz dous later doux). The name was sometimes used as a woman's personal name and occasionally used for a man.

Alternatively the name may arise from the Middle English personal name Douce occasionally male but mostly female borrowed from Old French Douce (from Latin Dulcia derived from Latin dulcis ‘sweet’).

The variant Duce is mostly pronounced to rhyme with loose in contrast with Dowse mostly pronounced to rhyme with house.

Italian: nickname from duce ‘leader chief’ from Latin dux.