Origin of the surname Dukes?

Question:

Origin of the surname Dukes?

I would like to know if anyone knows any information pertaining to the surname Dukes.I know the family has been in North Florida area since before Civil War days but do not know origin or anything else.Any help would be most greatly appreciated.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I play in a couple of places. One of these is www.familysearch.org
using the 1880 census transcription, I looked up all Dukes living in Florida. You can filter for white/african american families if need be. Now, looking at the MALES (wives have own maiden names), finding the older guys... and the census entry will show BIRTHPLACE OF THE PARENTS.
There can be fallacies in the census, like your family might be listed as Duke without the s, or missed entirely. There are entries showing both SC and GA. Thus, you have to play here yourself, since I can't identify your family.
Second, is an affectionate saying that "in the beginning, it was ALL Virginia". Grain of truth here... MANY Southern families will trace back to Virginia roots, because of its early settlement. Starting there, they branched out to GA, Ala, Tenn, etc.
Yes, the Dukes family is a colonial Virginia name. A Henry Dukes was in Va prior to 1700. Now, how or if you actually link back to him, is a question of enticing you into some research directed at your own actual lineage. Just cause of logistics, many of the colonial families have more research out there on them, and it should be easier to work back. You can also stop by the Dukes area at genforum, and do some reading. Try running the search filter for Florida to see if you can pick up a recent cousin (or someone who already has collected records).
You can also find beginner's guide to research at several locations, incl www.rootsweb.com.
Hope to see you back here..