I hope in the last seven or eight years you've solved the Dorris name mystery. I'm just getting started. My records trace my family back to a William Dorris from County Down (1715-1795). His father was William J. Dorr (not Dorris) (1678-1718). Don't know why the name change. I've also always heard (and read in several sources that Dorris is Greek. Doris was a province in ancient Greece. Possibly a city in Asia Minor too. I've also heard the legend of Gen. Josef Dorris being given County Down. This is really nothing new, but I can't validate any of it. There are also members of the Dorris family living in France and French Canada who spell it the same way but pronounce it Dorree'. I have a cousin who went to Paris and discovered that one. When the family migrated to Ireland from Greece (I've also heard Constantinople in the 1450s to flee the Turks), did some of them stop off in France?
This is all very fascinating but I'm pretty confused. I hope you've discovered more. Please contact at at: william.dorian@comcast.net