Daily AncestorDolly
Dolly is an old nickname for Dorothy, found in American records of the 1700s and 1800s.
Dolly formed from Dorothy when the r was replaced by an l, the same change that gave Molly from Mary and Sally from Sarah.
The same woman can be Dorothy in one record and Dolly in the next, for example a birth under one name and a marriage under the other. Match age, place and relatives before you join the two.
As seen in a record1850 census; her 1840 marriage record calls her Dorothy
Dolly Judkins, 29, F, Ohio
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Dolly." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/nicknames/dolly. Last checked 2026-10-15.