Family name origins & meanings
- English : from Middle English dole ‘portion of land’ (Old English dāl ‘share’, ‘portion’). The term could denote land within the common field, a boundary mark, or a unit of area; so the name may be of topographic origin or a status name.
- Irish : reduced and altered Anglicized form of McDowell. Compare McDole.
- French (Dolé) : nickname for a troubled or anxious person, from Old French dolé, past participle of doler ‘to regret’ (Latin dolere ‘to hurt’).