Dorling One-Name Study

Dorling
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Dorling One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Historical occurrences
Frequency of the name
Distribution of the name
Data
DNA project
Links
Contact Details

About the Dorling One-Name Study

I began researching my family history in 1982 and my maiden name Dorling as a one-name study soon after this. I wrote to all the Dorlings in the UK telephone dirctories in 1984. The Dorlings came mainly from East Anglia. I have information on nearly all 19th century Dorlings so if people can trace their Dorling ancestors to around 1900 I can usually identify them and their ancestry. I also have information on Dorlings right back to the Middle Ages when the surname was spelt as Dalling and de Dalling.

Variants

Originally the surname Dorling was spelt Dalling (to ryhme with 'falling') in East Anglia. The surname has been spelt variously as Dawling, Dawlin, Dorlin, Dorlen, Dorlen, Dallen, and even Dorlding.

Origin of the surname

The surname probably originates from the place names of Field Dalling and Wood Dalling in Norfolk and possibly from Dallinghoo in Suffolk. The earliest recorded instances of the Dalling name are in Norfolk as de Feldallyng, and de Dalling. By tudor times the surname is more common in Suffolk and the spelling gradually changes to Dalling to Dawling to Dorling. There is also some evidence of the 'Dalling' spelling in both Scotland and Devon and I would be interested to know how Dalling is pronounced in these places. There is also a Dallen variant from Ireland and there are instances of Dorling and variants from Europe and Russia. It is possible that the origin is a European clan called Dall / Dorl whose name gave rise to village names and then to surnames.

Historical occurrences

The epsom branch of the Dorling family has some of the most well known Dorlings - Taffrail (RN & author of sea stories), Henry (clerk of Epsom race course), Mrs Beeton of the cook books (Henry Dorlings step-daughter), Edward Earle Dorling (various roles & author of 'The Dorlings of Epsom'). Other branches have contributed the Dorling part of the Dorling-Kindersley publishers, Peter Dorling former newscaster, Danny Dorling (statistics & population etc) and many others who can be found by searching the internet.

Frequency of the name

In 1901 there were just over 700 Dorlings in the UK. There are now approximately 1000 Dorlings in the UK. This makes it a fairly rare surname.

Distribution of the name

Most Dorlings are in the UK, but there are Dorlings in other countries such as USA, South Africa and Australia.

Data

All births, marriages and deaths recorded by civil registration from 1837 to 1930. Most census returns, especially 1871, 1881, 1891 and 2001. Many Dorlings in parish records, especially in East Anglia. Many wills and other historical records such as directories, apprentice records, land & tax records, and letters. I am also trying to collect as many Dorling photos as possible, especially of 19th century and early 20th century Dorlings. I would be delighted if anyone can contribute photos of Dorlings or places they lived - please email a high quality image to me if possible.

DNA project

One of the aims of the DNA study is to see if any of the distinct Dorling branches share a common ancestor. By the 18th and 19th century there are several branches of Dorlings who originate from a known male ancestor in Suffolk, UK. DNA testing has so far revealed that the 2 largest branches (Bury St Edmunds and West Stow) are related through a common ancestor. Who this is we have yet to discover! So far the other main branches are not related to each other, e.g. Bacton, Barton Mills, Nacton / Easton, Dennington / Epsom. To date the 6 branches mentioned so far have been DNA tested and two of these have a DNA sequence that is rare in Europe. However, we need another descendent from both the Barton Mills and Easton branches and the Herringswell branch is yet to be tested - volunteers needed!

Links

The dorling ancestry website contains a lot of the information I have, but please email me if you have Dorling ancestors as I have more that isn't on the website. http://dorling-ancestry.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mrs Karen E M Hemmingham
E-mail:

This page last updated 25 February 2008.