The Doss surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 21,366 people carried this name — #1,687 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 13,800 people counted. That is up 4% from 20,623 in 2000.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
20 people named Doss live in Switzerland.
They live in 3 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Solothurn.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
20 people named Doss is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In the first U.S. census, 1790
18 families named Doss, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.
Each family is counted by its head. About 123 people lived in those households, 6.8 to a family on average. The table counts it together with one other spelling. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.
Families, by state
U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 237 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.
In print
Doss in American newspapers,
1903.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 162,839 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Doss in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1980s.
3,068 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Doss. The most, 691, 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 Queensland, at 2.1 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Doss.
Who carried it
People named Doss,
with a public archive behind them.
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Edwin A. Doss 1914–1996 · fighter pilot -
Desmond Doss 1919–2006 · soldier -
Ludwig August Doss 1764–
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Bruno Doss 1861–1919 · geologist
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Mildred Ann Doss 1903–1993 · zoologist
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Nannie Doss 1905–1965 · serial killer
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Doss,
in the records of 6 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 States1,120 records
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 652
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 266
- Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 140
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 19
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 18
- New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 15
- U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 5
- U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 3
- Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 1
- Sacramento County historic burials 1
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Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Wilfred L. DossBorn 1920 in Iowa. Enlisted 1944 at Camp Dodge Herrold; auto mechanic from Scott County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1992, buried at Rock Island National Cemetery, Illinois.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. war memorial War record Robert William DossBorn 1937; from Richmond, Virginia. U.S. Air Force; died in an accident 1965 in Gia Dinh, South Vietnam. Buried at Fort Harrison National Cemetery, Virginia.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record A. Marg DossArrived at New York in 1852 aboard the Ruddeck from Bremen, aged 27; farmer. From Tauperlitz, Germany; bound for Illinois.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
Showing 3 of 1,120 records for Doss in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · 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, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). 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).
Germany157 records
- Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919 155
- German emigration and citizenship files 2
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Example: German casualty list, 1918 Casualty list Paulus DoßFrom Kriegermühle, Oberpf. Reported wounded in the Bavarian casualty list of 13 July 1915 (Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 2).
Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0) -
Example: German casualty list, 1918 Casualty list Werner DoßFrom Frankfurt a. O. Reported dead in the Prussian casualty list of 20 February 1917.
Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0) -
Example: German casualty list, 1918 Casualty list Friedrich DoßFrom Langenfelde, Grimmen. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 22 November 1918.
Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
Showing 3 of 157 records for Doss in Germany.
Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0) · Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).
France7 records
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Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Roland Eugene DossBorn 1903 in Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (Yvelines); died 1980 in Gisors (Eure).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Gilberte Georgette DossBorn 1912 in Gisors (Eure); died 1998 in Guyancourt (Yvelines).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Michel Guy Rene DossBorn 1931 in Paris; died 1972 in Paris.
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 3 of 7 records for Doss in France.
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
Australia5 records
- Queensland State Archives indexes 3
- Tasmanian Names Index 2
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Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Thomas Debaster DossApplied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1852. Married 1852 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 25.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Civil record Gottlieb DossNaturalised in Queensland in 1871.
Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 2 of 5 records for Doss in Australia.
Counts: Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
Canada1 record
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Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917 War record William Woodrow Ernest DossDied in service in 1944.
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. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).
Netherlands1 record
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Example: U.S. census, 1910 Population register Hans Karl Gustav DossIn a population register.
Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Doss.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Doss 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.