Dore Family History
Dore Name Meaning
English: nickname from Middle English dore dorre (Old English dora) ‘bee hornet buzzing insect’. English: habitational name from either Dore in Derbyshire or Abbey Dore in Herefordshire; see Dorr . In some cases the name may be topographic for someone who lived ‘(at the) gate(way) or door(way)’ Middle English dor(e) (Old English dor). Irish: in County Limerick a shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Doghair ‘descendant of Doghar’ a byname meaning ‘sadness’; alternatively according to MacLysaght it could be from De Hóir a name of Norman origin. Outside Limerick it may be from French Doré (see below). French (Doré): nickname from Old French doré ‘golden’ (past participle of dorer ‘to gild’ from Late Latin deaurare from aurum ‘gold’) a nickname for someone with golden blond hair or a metonymic occupational name for a goldsmith or gilder (someone skilled in decorating surfaces with a very thin layer of gold). Compare Dorais . Hungarian (Dőre): unflattering nickname from dőre ‘stupid useless mad’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022