Show ContentsDolly History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

While many Irish names are familiar, their past incarnations are often shrouded in mystery, reflecting the ancient Gaelic heritage of their bearers. The original Gaelic form of the name Dolly is Ó Dubhlaoich, derived from the words dubh, which means "dark featured, great, prodigious, burned" 1, and laoch, referring to a hero or champion.

Early Origins of the Dolly family

The surname Dolly was first found in Westmeath (Irish: An Iarmhí) in the Irish Midlands, province of Leinster, where they held a family seat from very ancient times. According to O'Hart, the family claim descent through the MacMorough family which are descendants of the Heremon Kings of Ireland and were Chiefs in the County Wicklow and Queen's County. 1

Early History of the Dolly family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dolly research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1622, 1702, 1787, 1801 and 1844 are included under the topic Early Dolly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dolly Spelling Variations

The scribes who created documents long before either the Gaelic or English language resembled their standardized versions of today recorded words as they sounded. Consequently, in the Middle Ages the names of many people were recorded under different spellings each time they were written down. Research on the Dolly family name revealed numerous spelling variations, including Dooley, Dooly, O'Dooley, O'Dooly and others.

Early Notables of the Dolly family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Richard Dowley (1622-1702), English nonconformist divine, son of John Dowley, vicar of Alveston, near Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. Sir James Dowling (1787-1844), was a Australian colonial judge, born in London on 25 Nov. 1787. His father, Vincent Dowling, was a native of Queen's...
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dolly Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dolly Ranking

In the United States, the name Dolly is the 16,188th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2


United States Dolly migration to the United States +

Under the rule of England, land ownership in Ireland changed dramatically, and many native Irish families found themselves renting out land to farm from absentee owners. This was one of the prime reasons that immigration to North America began in the late 18th century: Irish farmers dreamed of owning their own parcel of land to work for themselves. At this point, the immigrants were at least of modest means for the passage across the Atlantic was often quite dear. In the 1840s the Great Potato Famine created an exodus of people of quite different means. These people were most often destitute: they either sold anything they had to gain a passage or they were sponsored by philanthropic societies. Many of these immigrants were sick from disease and starvation: as a result many did not survive the long transatlantic journey. Although those settlers that did survive were often despised and discriminated against by people already established in these nations, they were critical to rapid development of the powerful industrial nations of the United States and the country that would later become known as Canada. An examination of immigration and passenger lists shows many persons bearing the name of Dolly or one of its variants:

Dolly Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • William Dolly, who landed in Virginia in 1653 3
  • Teage Dolly, who arrived in Maryland in 1663 3

Canada Dolly migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dolly Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Miss. Margaret Dolly who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec but died on Grosse Isle in 1847 4
  • Miss. Theresa Dolly who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec but died on Grosse Isle in 1847 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Dolly (post 1700) +

  • Wilbur Dolly, American Republican politician, Chair of Pendleton County Republican Party, 1917
  • Abijah Dolly, American politician, Member of West Virginia State House of Delegates from Hardy County, 1864-66; Member of West Virginia State Senate 10th District, 1867-68
  • Dolly Rebecca Parton (b. 1946), American Country singer /songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist with an estimated 177 million in album sales
  • Dolly Buster (b. 1969), stage name of Nora Baumberger, Czech-born, film producer and director, actress, author and a former adult film actress
  • Dolly Domingos Menga (b. 1993), Angolan professional footballer
  • Dolly Vanderlip Ozburn (b. 1937), born Dolly Vanderlip, nicknamed "Lippy", American former pitcher who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1952-1954)
  • Dolly Haas (1910-1994), German-American actress
  • Dolly L. Elizondo, American Democratic Party politician, Chair of Hidalgo County Democratic Party, 2013 5
  • Dolly Emmett, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Arizona, 2004 6
  • Dolly Justice, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from South Carolina, 1996 7


  1. O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees 5th Edition in 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4)
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  4. Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 24)
  5. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  6. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  7. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook