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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : nickname from Middle English douce, dowce ‘sweet’, ‘pleasant’ (Old French dolz, dous, from Latin dulcis). This was also in occasional use as a female personal name in the Middle Ages, and some examples may derive from it.
  • Italian : from duce ‘leader’, ‘chief’, probably applied as a nickname.

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