Given name & surname
Dover
“from the water”
Dover is used as a given name and a surname. One Welsh interpretation is “from the water.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Welsh interpretation is “from the water.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Welsh.
How it developed
From Old English Dofras, from Latin Dubris, from Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Dover through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 140
- 140 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1922
- 13 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2022. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 13 in 1922. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 135 as a first name in 2020; 9,164 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dover’s family of names
Dover has a related form in Dovar. Dover has a related form in Dovir. Dover has a related form in Dovor.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Dover, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Rosser
Rosser is a surname from Welsh.
>99% boys
Oran
“surrounded by light” · “a pale-skinned man”
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Argel
“one who provides refuge”
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Howell
“a distinguished or eminent man”
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Newlin
“from the new pond”
>99% boys
Yale
“from the fertile upland”
>99% boys
Orin
“a dark-haired beauty”
99% boys · 1% girls
Merwin
“a friend of the sea”
>99% boys