This most unusual name is of early medieval English origin, and is an occupational surname for a builder using wattle and daub, or specifically a whitewasher or plasterer. The surname derives from an agent derivative of the Middle English verb "daube(n)", to coat with a layer of plaster, from the Old French "dauber" (Latin "dealbare"), to coat with whitewash. Dwellings and walls were commonly built with "wattle and daub" in the Middle Ages; the "wattles" consisted of upright stakes with the spaces between filled with interwoven small branches. Both sides of this foundation were then "daubed" with earth or clay, and the surfaces smoothed and usually treated with plaster or a coat of whitewash. As a trade, daubing was similar to "pargetting" or plastering: at Corfe in 1285 there is a reference to "Stephen the Dauber who pargetted the long chamber". Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and gradually became hereditary. The modern surname forms range from Dauber, Dawber and Daber, to Dorber, Dober and Doberer, and examples from Church Registers include: Thomas Dorebar (1589, Hertfordshire); Thomas Doarbarre (1603, London); and Elizabeth Dorbur (1617, ibid.). The christening of John, son of Richard Dorber, was recorded at St. James the Apostle, Dover, Kent, on November 21st 1596. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo Daubur, which was dated 1219, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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