A Scottish and Irish surname, Docherty comes from the Gaelic term of ‘dochartach’ which means to be insensitive or awkward. Variations in spelling Docherty include Doherty, Doherety, MacDevitt, Docharty, Dockerty, Dougharty and Dohertey. In Ireland the original Docherty families were in County Donegal. In northern England is where most with the Docherty name live. The populations of Northumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumberland counties have the higher numbers of Docherty families. Over the majority of Scotland the Docherty surname is located. Most being in the Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire counties. Within the United States many with the Docherty name live in the northeast and mid-west regions. The higher populations are in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. Famous: Bevan John Docherty (an Olympic medalist from New Zealand), Laurence Docherty (a professional field hockey player for the Netherlands), Steve Docherty (professional tennis player from Australia) and Tommy Docherty (a professional footballer from Scotland).