Frequency: (673)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English and Scottish: of uncertain derivation, but possibly a metonymic occupational name for a turner or cutler; the word dudgeon denoted the wood (probably boxwood) used in the handles of knives and daggers in the Middle Ages. Alternatively, it could be a diminutive form of Dodge. The name was taken to northern Ireland in the 17th century.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
