Dowdy is a surname. Common anglicisation of the ancient Irish surname Ó Dubhda (English: O'Dowd). Other anglicised variants are Dowd, Dawdy, Dowdy, O'Dowda and Dowds, with Doody and Duddy, found around Killarney, where a branch of the Connacht family settled. All are Ó Dubhda (pronounced O Dooda) in Irish, the root word being "dubh" black. A quite distinct minor sept of Ó Dubhda was located in County Londonderry.
Dowdy also means plain and unfashionable in style or dress. Lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby. Comparative is "dowdier", superlative "dowdiest".
Notable people Notable people with the surname include:
Adam Dowdy (born 1975), American baseball umpire Bill Dowdy (1932–2017), American musician Cecil Dowdy (1945–2002), American football player, University of Alabama David Astor Dowdy Jr. (1933–2019), American businessman and sculptor Helen Dowdy, American actress Homer Dowdy (1922–2002), American writer John Dowdy (1912–1995), American politician Kyle Dowdy (born 1993), American baseball player Nancy M. Dowdy, American nuclear physicist Wayne Dowdy (born 1943), American politician
See also O'Dowd, detailed history of the Irish Gaelic clan Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium, named after Ronald and Mary Ellen Dowdy
References
"The Ó Dubhda Family History" By Conor MacHale, Clan O'Dowd Historian, Inniscrone, 1990.