Dubois

also DuBois, Du Bois

Of the wood, France's commonest forest name.

Origin: French
Register: French family

The seat of Dubois

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Dubois community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Dubois has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Dubois clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

Help rebuild the Dubois clan →

What does the Dubois name mean?

Topographic, du bois, 'of the wood': a family that lived in or by a forest, or worked it. One of the two or three most numerous surnames in all of France.

The history of Dubois

France was a country of great forests, and the family at the wood's edge or in a clearing within it was known simply as du Bois, of the wood. The plainness is the whole point: a description that fitted so many became a name borne by some of the most French people of all, and a continent of woods awaited it in New France. It is sometimes anglicised to Wood.

The castles of the homeland

The great strongholds of the homeland, look one up, see what it looked like in its prime, and recreate it to explore.

BastilleDemolished · prime 1380

Guédelon CastleRestored · prime 1250

Château de VincennesRestored · prime 1660

All castles in France → · Strongest castles in France → · Castles of Europe

Play As Your Clan

Explore history as a DuboisStart your story →

Hold a real castle against whatever you choose to send at it, take a ship out in her own service years, or stand at the shoulder of someone the record remembers. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.

Frequently asked

What does the surname Dubois mean?

Topographic, du bois, 'of the wood': a family that lived in or by a forest, or worked it. One of the two or three most numerous surnames in all of France. France was a country of great forests, and the family at the wood's edge or in a clearing within it was known simply as du Bois, of the wood.

Is Dubois French or Belgian?

Dubois is a French surname; its home on this atlas is French, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated. The name belongs to the French language tree and is carried across the French-speaking world, including Wallonia in Belgium, so a Belgian family bearing it shares the same root.

How old is the Dubois surname?

France was a country of great forests, and the family at the wood's edge or in a clearing within it was known simply as du Bois, of the wood. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Dubois name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Dubois family known for?

Of the wood, France's commonest forest name. France was a country of great forests, and the family at the wood's edge or in a clearing within it was known simply as du Bois, of the wood.

Is there a Dubois family crest or coat of arms?

There is no single coat of arms that belongs to everyone named Dubois. Heraldic arms were granted to individuals and descend through specific documented lines, so a "family crest" matched to a surname alone is decorative rather than genealogical.

Is DuBois the same family as Dubois?

Yes. DuBois is a historical spelling variant of the Dubois name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Du Bois the same family as Dubois?

Yes. Du Bois is a historical spelling variant of the Dubois name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Dubois surname found today?

French is the primary historical home of the Dubois surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same French origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Dubois family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Dubois family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of French so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Dubois family today?

The seat for the head of the Dubois family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.