The Dabbs surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,516 people carried this name — #7,380 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 65,400 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (4,518).

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What the name means

The meaning of the Dabbs surname

A surname originating as a patronymic.

From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Robert + the patronymic suffix -s.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Dabbs» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Robert’.

His entry covers Dabbs and Dabb.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 227 · public domain.

In print

Dabbs in American newspapers,
1927.

Newspaper page from The Bismarck Tribune carrying the name Dabbs
The Bismarck Tribune 1927-03-29
Newspaper page from The Bismarck Tribune carrying the name Dabbs
The Bismarck Tribune 1927-03-07
Newspaper page from The Bismarck Tribune carrying the name Dabbs
The Bismarck Tribune 1927-04-04

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 15,673 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Dabbs in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1970s.

1,646 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Dabbs. The most, 474, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 2.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 1,317
Victoria 105
Queensland 104
ACT (Canberra) 43
Western Australia 41
South Australia 23
Tasmania 9

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Dabbs.

Who carried it

People named Dabbs,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Ernest Edward Dabbs d. 2000
  • Benjamin Loman Horsely Dabbs 1839–1899 · photographer
  • Eugene Whitefield Dabbs 1864–1933

Wikidata (CC0) · 7 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Dabbs,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States255 records

255 records of the Dabbs name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 172
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 58
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 9
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 8
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 4
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 3
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Rufus T. Dabbs

    Born 1917 in Kansas. Enlisted 1943 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; machine shop worker. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1991, buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Alan Courtney Dabbs

    Born 1941; from Blossom, Texas. U.S. Army, medical equipment repairer; died of illness 1968 in South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Harriet Dabbs

    Arrived at New York in 1865 aboard the Britannia from Glasgow, aged 21. From England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 255 records for Dabbs in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia30 records

30 records of the Dabbs name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 19
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 4
  • Tasmanian Names Index 4
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 2
  • State Library of Western Australia indexes 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Patrick Dabbs

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Claudine, sailing from England in 1821. Native of London, Middlesex.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Wm Dabbs

    Arrived in Victoria in 1887 aboard the Oxford, aged 27; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record William Alfred Dabbs

    Selected land at Brisbane, Queensland in 1888.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 30 records for Dabbs in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom7 records

7 records of the Dabbs name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 6
  • Welsh wills index cards 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Mary Dabbs

    Will proved in 1934; of Coleshill, Birmingham.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. Dabbs

    King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. W. Dabbs

    Corporal, Machine Gun Guards. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 7 records for Dabbs in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Canada3 records

3 records of the Dabbs name in Canada
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 2
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Margarat Dabbs

    Died 1941; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Harold Dabbs

    Died in service in 1945.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Howard Earl Dabbs

    Died in service in 1942.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Counts: Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Dabbs.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Dabbs is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Dabbs volume
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