[Surname] Doubtfire
Does anyone know any real-life people with the surname Doubtfire? I know about the character in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, but I didn't know whether Doubtfire is actually a "real" surname or one that was made up just for that movie.
Replies
it appears there are people who have/had this name in real life:
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=6&fn=&ln=doubtfire&yr=1920
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=6&fn=&ln=doubtfire&yr=1920
Yes, it seems that there were 207 people of this name in Britain in 1998, and none anywhere else. Reaney and Wilson suggest that it's a nickname, doute-fire, meaning "fear fire"; alternatively "a late corruption of DOUGHTY". They list a Robert Doughtfire living in Lincolnshire in 1509.
Just to add to what jim has said the 207 has now increased to 236 in the UK.
It's made up. Daniel Hillard was thinking of a name to make-up, when pretending to be a Nanny for his ex-beloved, and saw in a Newspaper article the Headline "Police Doubt Fire was accident". And being a man, I wonder what moniker he adopted ...
However, Doubfeyr is a real, Swedish name (pronounced Dow-fiy-air)
However, Doubfeyr is a real, Swedish name (pronounced Dow-fiy-air)