indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from nickname)
Usage English (British)
Meaning & History
Variant of Dollin, with post-medieval excrescent -s, itself a variant of Dolling, a nickname from an unrecorded Middle English word dolling douling dulling meaning “dull or stupid one” (compare Doll). The name may also have arisen from a late assimilation of rl to ll in Dorling a variant of Darling. Compare Dollens.