Message: "Re: Trying to find origins of surname Dorbert"

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Re: Trying to find origins of surname Dorbert

by genis (guest)

9/12/2007, 10:17 PM

Since no one has answered, I'll give you the limited info I've come up with---hopefully someone else will be able to flesh it out. My guess is that Dorbert follows the German "bert" naming tradition (Albert for example): "brecht" means "bright". Unfortunately, I don't know what "dor" relates to in German.

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- Jim Young (guest) +2

9/14/2007, 5:29 AM

I was thinking along the same lines, and also struggling with Dor. I was wondering if it might represent the Old Germanic Thor which occurs in some English surnames in various forms; Thirkettle, Torode, Thorburn, etc.
I believe the early medieval German form of Thor was Donar, which makes this explanation less likely. Anyway I don't know of any German surnames that incorporate the name Thor, however spelt. Maybe someone with a knowledge of German can clarify.

- Andy ;—) (guest) +1

9/15/2007, 11:18 PM

If you go to www.telefonbuch.de you will find the following:

85 x Dorbert in Germany
0 x Thorbert
0 x Torbert
393 x Thor
17 x Thorwald

THORBERT is not listed in Foerstemann’s Altdeutsches Namenbuch (he only has Thorbod; I don’t have the entry DOR, as I didn’t copy all the pages, but there would be a reference under THOR).

ROROLF/DOROLF is mentioned in H.Kaufmanns supplementary volume (1968), but again no DORBERT.

Still I agree to the interpretation “thor” + “beraht.” We probably won’t have to think too hard about the combination of the two, as there often is no semantic connection between name elements.

- Jim Young (guest)

9/16/2007, 5:47 AM

Thanks Andy. That appears make the "Thor" interpretation more acceptable.

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