Dobi (surname)

Dobi is a family name (surname) originating in Hungary. It is mostly prevalent in Hungary, Albania, Serbia and the United States.

The surname may originate from the Hungarian personal name Dabó (Transylvanian form Dobó), or from a pet form of the personal name Dob. Another theory on the origin of the Dobi surname may be as a diminutive of the Saxon personal name Hrodebert (ancient form of the English name Robert).

The Dobi surname in Albania is found among members of the same family, which originates from the region of Gjirokastra, and nowadays hails primarily in the capital city of Tirana, but a large number of them have settled in other countries, such as Turkey or the United States.

The main branch of the Dobi family in Albania is considered to be one of the oldest families of the medieval city of Gjirokastra and it is believed that they had first settled in the citadel inside the Castle of Gjirokastra by the year 1380. Since then, there have been 30 generations of people with the Dobi surname.

A line of the Dobi family had established landholdings in the village of Damës, in the region of Tepelena, but by the end of the 16th century most of them had moved to Gjirokastra and the cadet branch of the family that stayed back in Damës formed the core of the Iliriani family. According to legend, throughout the centuries the Dobi family has been involved mainly with commerce, especially in the trade of mules for transport, which helps explain the presence of the mule in escutcheon of the Family’s heraldic coat of arms.

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