Show ContentsDorothea Surname History

Etymology of Dorothea

What does the name Dorothea mean?

The surname Dorothea is of metronymic origin, deriving from the name of the mother of the original bearer. Dorothea is derived from the personal name "Dorothy," which is itself derived from the Greek name "Theodora," meaning "gift of God." This personal name was extremely popular in England, where its use dates back to the Elizabethan period. Dorothea is a relatively young surname, and has never been common.

Early Origins of the Dorothea family

The surname Dorothea was first found in the county of Durham, where the name was first recorded, borne by John Dorothy, who married Ellener Wilkinson in 1627.

Early History of the Dorothea family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dorothea research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1627, 1704, 1738, 1765, 1769 and 1777 are included under the topic Early Dorothea History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dorothea Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Dorothy, Dorothea, Dorithy and others.

Early Notables of the Dorothea family

Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dorothea Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Dorothea family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Behethland Dorothy, who came to Virginia in 1638; Elizabeth Dorothy, who settled in Boston in 1723; Ann Dorothea, who immigrated to Charleston, South Carolina in 1768.


Contemporary Notables of the name Dorothea (post 1700) +

  • Lady Eliza Dorothea Cobbe (1764-1850), Irish author and poet, member of the Anglo-Irish gentry
  • Maria Dorothea Simon (1918-2022), née Pollatschek, an Austrian sociologist, psychologist, and scholar of social work, Director of the Akademie für Sozialarbeit der Stadt Wien (academy for social work of the city of Vienna) from 1970 to 1983
  • Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835), English poetess, born in Duke Street, Liverpool, on 25 Sept. 1793, the daughter of George Browne, merchant, of Liverpool, and at one time Imperial and Tuscan consul there
  • Elisabeth Dorothea Bing (1914-2015), née Koenigsberger, German physical therapist, co-founder of Lamaze International, and proponent of natural childbirth
  • Angela Dorothea Merkel (b. 1954), Chancellor of Germany and party leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the first woman to be Chancellor
  • Jutta Dorothea Haug (b. 1951), German politician and Member of the European Parliament
  • Charlotta Dorothea Biehl (1731-1788), Danish playwright and translator
  • Maria Dorothea Wendling (1736-1811), German soprano
  • C. Dorothea Greene, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from New York 30th District, 1938 1
  • Dorothea Abrahams (1779-1853), philanthropist from the West Indies she came to America and meet Captain Abraham de Lyon Abrahams in 1803


  1. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 23) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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