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There are approximately 9,947 people named Dudley in the UK. That makes it the 1,060th most common surname overall. Out of every million people in the UK, approximately 157 are named Dudley.

Region of origin

British Isles

Country of origin

England

Language of origin

English

Religion of origin

Christian

Classification

English
Location or Geographical Feature

Related and similar surnames

Doody
Dowd
Dooling
Duddy
Dowling
Dodley
Duddley
Doudley
Dudleys
Duddly
Doodley
Dewdley
Dowdley
Dudleye
Doudly
Dudeley
Dudleyy
Dudlay
Dowdly
Dudl
Doodly
Doulin
Dudely
Dudleu
Diudley
Dudlee

The Dudley surname in historical dictionaries

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857)

(origin: Local) A town in Worcestershire, England, so called from the old English Dode-ley, the place of the dead, a burying-ground. Dodelig, in the Danish, signifies pale, death-like, mortal; so also the Dutch Doodelijk, and German Todlich. Duv-da-lethe, in the Gaelic and Celtic, which has been corrupted to Dudley, has the same signification.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

Patronymica Britannica (1860)

DUDLEY. A town and castle in co. Worcester. In Norman times it was the fief of the De Someries, whose descendants wei'e barons by tenure, though, as Sir H. Nicolas observes, it is questionable whether their title Avas that of " Dudley." So far as I see, no noble family called Dudley Avas ever possessor of that barony. * Dudley, one of the notorious extortioners of Henry VII., claimed to be a descendant of the Suttons, barons Dudley, and his father is said to have assumed the name of Dudley, though a more probable account makes him a travelling carpenter. Mouasticon, v. 5.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.

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